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"8GB of ram isn't a lot." You are not wrong in 2021 but this comment took me back to late 1900s-early 2000s when a few hundred MB of RAM was premium :). How fa

"8GB of ram isn't a lot." You are not wrong in 2021 but this comment took me back to late 1900s-early 2000s when a few hundred MB of RAM was premium :). How far have we come!!

polka_haunts_us 6y ago
I think I forget sometimes because I'm working with this stuff daily now, but yeah the evolution of computing technology is just astounding in scale and pace.
dj_mc_merlin 6y ago
Why would you need more than 128MB? What are you gonna do with it? Hahahahahahahahahaha....
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
  "640kB should be enough for anyone" - nobody ever, but misattributed to Bill Gates. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2534312/the--640k--quote-won-t-go-away----but-did-gates-really-say-it-.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2534312/the--640k--quo...
  - mc32 6y ago
    At the time it would have served pretty much all normal users enough, so I don’t see what’s wrong with the statement. It’s like today telling a home user 32GB should be enough for just about anything a normal user would do with their home PC. I wouldn’t advise anyone to get 128GB (or more) “just in case”. If they have a special need case, then, sure , otherwise no.
- irrational 6y ago
  I had a 75 MB (yes, MB) drive in the first computer I bought. It was top of the line at the time. I remember telling my wife that I couldn’t imagine ever filling it up. Ha! Now I feel like a pauper if my phone has a 64GB drive ;-)
jsight 6y ago
Yeah, although in this case it takes me back to ~10 years ago. I didn't think 8GB was a lot back then either, and we typically tried for at least 16. Its pretty disappointing how little advancement has been made in RAM in recent years. It seems like everything should come with at least 16GB now with 32GB being readily available, but I guess noone is working on the cost of desktop/laptop memory.
- randyrand 6y ago
  In 2011 I bought a laptop with 16GB ram for $2000 (Lenovo W520). 2015, MBP13, 8GB ram I bought for $1900. 2018, MBP13, 16GB, $2200. 2020, MBP13, 32GB, $2500. Pretty sad improvements for 9 years. But the form factor did improve...
  - culopatin 6y ago
    Wow those W520 were heavy. I got a few dumped on me at an old job. They were going to throw them away. I put a few together that I sold for 400 each in 2018, great returns. I didn’t even think they would bring 200
- rovr138 6y ago
  I'm typing this comment on a 2011 MBA with 4GB's of RAM. Running Linux on it. Native apps are okay. Firefox is okay unless I over do it with tabs. Forget about electron apps.
- earthscienceman 6y ago
  I mean. You're correct, in an off color way. I'm typing this from a Thinkpad with 128Gb of RAM that I bought for <2k (total machine+aftermarket RAM). So it sounds like Apple has made very little progress in arena.
- cozzyd 6y ago
  For laptops, it's power, isn't it? Not to mention initializing so much ram takes a long time.
  - 6y ago
devoutsalsa 6y ago
I remember having 8 memory slots for my Cyrix 40Mhz 486 clone in 1994. I had 4MB of memory in four slots. I was thrilled when a friend gave me 4 256KB memory sims for an extra 1MB of RAM, which significantly sped up my computer :)
blackoil 6y ago
Late 1900s, few 100 MB of HDD would have been premium. I remember my father paying a lot for upgrading from 1MB to 4MB.
xxs 6y ago
"late 1900"... you mean like 1994 where 8MB RAM was the dream?
- codegeek 6y ago
  oops haha yea I meant 1990s
otabdeveloper4 6y ago
> How far have we come!! Patting yourself on the back for gratuitously wasting resources really, really grates on me. Sure, I can buy a car that gets 10 miles per gallon for my weekly groceries shopping. I can even afford it, it won't break my bank. But actually being proud of it? Like it's some sort of sign of social and technological progress? Whew.

"8GB of ram isn't a lot." You are not wrong in 2021 but this comment took me back to late 1900s-early 2000s when a few hundred MB of RAM was premium :). How far have we come!!

polka_haunts_us 6y ago

I think I forget sometimes because I'm working with this stuff daily now, but yeah the evolution of computing technology is just astounding in scale and pace.

dj_mc_merlin 6y ago

Why would you need more than 128MB? What are you gonna do with it? Hahahahahahahahahaha....

TheSpiceIsLife 6y ago
"640kB should be enough for anyone" - nobody ever, but misattributed to Bill Gates. https://www.computerworld.com/article/2534312/the--640k--quote-won-t-go-away----but-did-gates-really-say-it-.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2534312/the--640k--quo...
- mc32 6y ago
  At the time it would have served pretty much all normal users enough, so I don’t see what’s wrong with the statement. It’s like today telling a home user 32GB should be enough for just about anything a normal user would do with their home PC. I wouldn’t advise anyone to get 128GB (or more) “just in case”. If they have a special need case, then, sure , otherwise no.
irrational 6y ago
I had a 75 MB (yes, MB) drive in the first computer I bought. It was top of the line at the time. I remember telling my wife that I couldn’t imagine ever filling it up. Ha! Now I feel like a pauper if my phone has a 64GB drive ;-)

jsight 6y ago

Yeah, although in this case it takes me back to ~10 years ago. I didn't think 8GB was a lot back then either, and we typically tried for at least 16. Its pretty disappointing how little advancement has been made in RAM in recent years. It seems like everything should come with at least 16GB now with 32GB being readily available, but I guess noone is working on the cost of desktop/laptop memory.

randyrand 6y ago
In 2011 I bought a laptop with 16GB ram for $2000 (Lenovo W520). 2015, MBP13, 8GB ram I bought for $1900. 2018, MBP13, 16GB, $2200. 2020, MBP13, 32GB, $2500. Pretty sad improvements for 9 years. But the form factor did improve...
- culopatin 6y ago
  Wow those W520 were heavy. I got a few dumped on me at an old job. They were going to throw them away. I put a few together that I sold for 400 each in 2018, great returns. I didn’t even think they would bring 200
rovr138 6y ago
I'm typing this comment on a 2011 MBA with 4GB's of RAM. Running Linux on it. Native apps are okay. Firefox is okay unless I over do it with tabs. Forget about electron apps.
earthscienceman 6y ago
I mean. You're correct, in an off color way. I'm typing this from a Thinkpad with 128Gb of RAM that I bought for <2k (total machine+aftermarket RAM). So it sounds like Apple has made very little progress in arena.
cozzyd 6y ago
For laptops, it's power, isn't it? Not to mention initializing so much ram takes a long time.
- 6y ago

devoutsalsa 6y ago

I remember having 8 memory slots for my Cyrix 40Mhz 486 clone in 1994. I had 4MB of memory in four slots. I was thrilled when a friend gave me 4 256KB memory sims for an extra 1MB of RAM, which significantly sped up my computer :)

blackoil 6y ago

Late 1900s, few 100 MB of HDD would have been premium. I remember my father paying a lot for upgrading from 1MB to 4MB.

xxs 6y ago

"late 1900"... you mean like 1994 where 8MB RAM was the dream?

codegeek 6y ago
oops haha yea I meant 1990s

otabdeveloper4 6y ago

> How far have we come!! Patting yourself on the back for gratuitously wasting resources really, really grates on me. Sure, I can buy a car that gets 10 miles per gallon for my weekly groceries shopping. I can even afford it, it won't break my bank. But actually being proud of it? Like it's some sort of sign of social and technological progress? Whew.