Because developer time is worth much more than the hardware cost delta. There are a number of tasks we do that are compute bottlenecked, how about compressing

Because developer time is worth much more than the hardware cost delta. There are a number of tasks we do that are compute bottlenecked, how about compressing an archive, or compiling, or transcoding? Even things like apt-get install is faster with a faster processor, and vim plugins can be ridiculous with their lag. It all adds up to hours and days and eventually weeks of your life over time. I don't think the tradeoff of saving $100 or $200 on a chip that will last three years and will be worth more on resale is worth it.