Collapse of Personal Computing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyQwAhppWj8

by pjmlp • 2 months ago

16 6 2 months ago

kristjank• 2 months ago

This may be the most important war that us consumers have to win this century. Most of our liberties will depend on it in the future, not in some spiritual or principled way, but in the "means of production" kind of way.

MrGilbert• 2 months ago

As much as I like, I don’t know if this is a war we can win.

emsign2• 2 months ago

We can win if we don't use the kind of AI that destroys home computers but the kind of AI that is run on home computers. It's important to choose the devices with NPUs that you actually own, don't rent any black boxes like Alexa. And don't let your life be run by personal agents that the digital landlords will try to give you. Don't fall for gig work. Be aware of artificial currency, coins or credit or you will end up in something that is basically indentured servitude.

qsxfthnkp2322• 2 months ago

This isn’t the future i want.

emsign2• 2 months ago

In a nutshell: "AI has taken your job without doing your job."

The AI hype is so destructive.

stego-tech• 2 months ago

Disappointed this hasn't climbed the charts on HN; there's a lot of meaty data here showing the collapse of the consumer-focused DIY compute industry, as well as the wider consumer compute sector as a whole.

While I don't believe this to be the end of consumer compute per se, the reality is that these companies take years or a decade to get a foothold in the marketplace and build the infrastructure they need to meet global demand; we can't just "turn back the clock" once the AI hype ends and supply becomes less constrained. That's going to impact the hobby as well as consumers for far longer than this hype cycle lasted, and the final landscape is going to be starkly different than what we grew up with.

The real question mark right now is whether or not the entity list that keeps Chinese companies barred from global markets will continue to be honored as the US hegemony continues deteriorating. This could be a huge opportunity for Chinese suppliers to reach into consumer compute and challenge US cartels for dominance by undercutting on price or delivering superior products, especially if they court Open Source as a means of establishing a credible reputation abroad ("Here's our source code and diagrams so you can prove for yourselves there's no spyware in here").

What objectively sucks today could be quite interesting tomorrow, depending on how things play out.

Collapse of Personal Computing

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