You make some good points -- and to be candid, I didn't touch on the network effect(s) because I was trying to maintain some brevity / focus in my original post

You make some good points -- and to be candid, I didn't touch on the network effect(s) because I was trying to maintain some brevity / focus in my original post. Aside -- I grew up in the days before network reliance (or even network presence) consequently I don't think of my 32GB / 8 core / 8TB / 32" monitored computer as an enhanced VT52. :) Though I certainly respect the fact that for many people, once you exceed the grunt required to render HTTP(S) at an acceptable speed, there's no great interest in a faster computer. Your observations on Intel -- is it possible they were a bit more prescient than we typically give them credit for, insofar as not pursuing ever faster CPU's (which would now have been considered relatively unnecessary for the majority of installations)?