Charlie StrossFeb 25

RE: https://mastodon.social/@blogdiva/116127740444038853

The unadmitted reason this is happening (and the AI bubble besides): Moore's Law *has ended*. The only way for hardware sales to go in future is *down* because your next PC or Mac will work just fine until it breaks or dies of old age. So by ramping prices artificially via this RAM/SSD futures bullshit, they're keeping profits high for as long as possible.

Show threadCharlie Stross

I just noticed I have 18Tb of storage plugged into my desktop (a laptop with its own 2Tb of built-in SSD) and WTF am I doing with it all?!?

@blogdiva

Feb 25 at 6:49pmWeb
Show threadHugo MillsFeb 25
@cstross @blogdiva Cat pictures. It's usually cat pictures. Have you checked Menhit's home directory?
Show threadDressToKILTFeb 25
@darkling @cstross @blogdiva literally came here just to say "it's cat pics, isn't it?"
Show threadOblomovFeb 25
@cstross @blogdiva I have such large storage, where I keep all my audio and film and game installer backups because fuck streaming.
Show threadBitHive Feb 25
@cstross /dev/random > randomnes_store_for_later_use.txt
Show threadMark DennehyFeb 25
@cstross @blogdiva Tell me you have an oversized porn library without telling me you have an oversized porn library :D
Show threadCharlie StrossFeb 25
@markdennehy @blogdiva Actually most of that storage is redundant backup drives :)
Show threadMark DennehyFeb 25
@cstross @blogdiva A redundantly backed up porn archive, you say? 😜
Show threadJoe WFeb 25
@cstross @blogdiva Sell it and retire with a huge pile of cash?
Show threadyour auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦Feb 25

it’s been so cheap to add another drive or RAM, IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY.

since my divorce, been so broke, everything i have is a hand-me down or refurbished.

that’s why i switched to linux. i’ve squeezed the proverbial blood from Dell Inspiron bricks with SOLDERED RAM. i have ran webservers on tablets meant for kids to play CandyCrush.

don't matter if the tech is cheap if i got no money to spend.

it’s why i can see the scarcity they are creating.

it’s like a divorce.

@cstross

Show threadCharlie StrossFeb 25
@blogdiva I rely on these machines for earning my living. Still, with prices soaring I'm going into "make do and mend" mode for the foreseeable future. And turning old kit over to Linux or BSD …
Show threadKinene⭐🐻Feb 25
@cstross @blogdiva I converted to Linux around 2000, after one too many "blue screens of death." Before that, it was CP/M, then pirate copies of 3.1 and 98 on various computers.
Show threadyour auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦Feb 25
@cstross this is the way
Show threadNegative12DollarBillFeb 25
@cstross @blogdiva Doesn't the "earn my living" part mean you can claim it/write it off on your taxes?
Show threadWiredfireFeb 25
@negative12dollarbill @cstross @blogdiva only partially. A decade or two back you could write off the full cost of computing hardware against tax but it was so widely and comprehensively abused that the Inland Revenue put a stop to it.
Show threadCharlie StrossFeb 25
@negative12dollarbill @blogdiva Yes, but first I have to *earn* the money. (I'm still in a rough patch financially following a year of downtime due to COVID then finishing a series of novels that had dwindling sales before spinning up a new series, because: COVID and age-related decline in energy.)
Show threadNegative12DollarBillFeb 26
@cstross @blogdiva
Sorry to hear that. Somehow I didn't know that about you.
Show threadJernej Simončič �Feb 25
@cstross @blogdiva Somebody is bragging how rich they are :)
Show threadMark HarrisFeb 25
@cstross @blogdiva Backing up the Epstein Files?
Show threadyour auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦Feb 25
@nzlemming @cstross LMAO
Show threadColinFeb 25
@cstross Vast plains in which you torture imaginary friends.
Show threadOrca 🌻 | 🎀 | 🪁 | 🏴🏳️‍⚧️Feb 25
@cstross @blogdiva
sciop.net ?
Show threadAlien software, human hardwareFeb 26
@cstross @blogdiva cat videos?