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Google has been successfully using their custom silicon. Apple as well. Meta's bet probably wasn't so misguided as to warrant this shallow criticism.

iaseiadit 3y ago
Custom silicon has actual value for Apple and Google products. But Facebook? Add it to VR, Metaverse, Threads, etc. - what have they done lately that hasn’t been misguided?
- arcticbull 3y ago
  They operate at an unbelievable scale. If they can tailor a part to their workload and save a fraction of a penny per request, it can absolutely pay off for them in a way it wouldn't for almost anyone else.
  - iaseiadit 3y ago
    Yet here we are.
    - arcticbull 3y ago
      I'm not really sure this is proof of anything, other than interest rates moving the minimum bar for what is worth investing in. Custom silicon takes tons of time and investment, and carries high risk. If they were previously projecting even a 1-2% ROI, it made sense to do. Now they need an 8-10% ROI to justify the same project. Just because they can't get 8-10% out of their investment doesn't meant it's non-zero, or that it wasn't justified when cost of capital was much lower. [edit] people seem to think that just because they don't like Facebook it must be incompetent or ineffective. One glance at their financials should really dispel that notion.
  - upon_drumhead 3y ago
    According to the article, this layoff was targeted at the wearable custom chips. I think this is more a reaction to the Vision Pro and conceding the high end solutions to Apple.
arcticbull 3y ago
Not to mention Amazon's Graviton family.
xwolfi 3y ago
Remind me why they're called "meta" ? I think they're completely gone in terms of strategy. There's no more sense nor meaning to what they plan on doing.
oldWayz 3y ago
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Analemma_ 3y ago
> Google has been successfully using their custom silicon. Have they? Every review I’ve ever read of the Pixel phones says the phones are fine but the Tensor G* chips are a disappointment. And their TPU chips might be great, but they sure don’t seem to be helping Bard hold a candle to GPT-4.

iaseiadit 3y ago

Custom silicon has actual value for Apple and Google products. But Facebook? Add it to VR, Metaverse, Threads, etc. - what have they done lately that hasn’t been misguided?

arcticbull 3y ago
They operate at an unbelievable scale. If they can tailor a part to their workload and save a fraction of a penny per request, it can absolutely pay off for them in a way it wouldn't for almost anyone else.
- iaseiadit 3y ago
  Yet here we are.
  - arcticbull 3y ago
    I'm not really sure this is proof of anything, other than interest rates moving the minimum bar for what is worth investing in. Custom silicon takes tons of time and investment, and carries high risk. If they were previously projecting even a 1-2% ROI, it made sense to do. Now they need an 8-10% ROI to justify the same project. Just because they can't get 8-10% out of their investment doesn't meant it's non-zero, or that it wasn't justified when cost of capital was much lower. [edit] people seem to think that just because they don't like Facebook it must be incompetent or ineffective. One glance at their financials should really dispel that notion.
- upon_drumhead 3y ago
  According to the article, this layoff was targeted at the wearable custom chips. I think this is more a reaction to the Vision Pro and conceding the high end solutions to Apple.

arcticbull 3y ago

Not to mention Amazon's Graviton family.

xwolfi 3y ago

Remind me why they're called "meta" ? I think they're completely gone in terms of strategy. There's no more sense nor meaning to what they plan on doing.

oldWayz 3y ago

[dead]

Analemma_ 3y ago

> Google has been successfully using their custom silicon. Have they? Every review I’ve ever read of the Pixel phones says the phones are fine but the Tensor G* chips are a disappointment. And their TPU chips might be great, but they sure don’t seem to be helping Bard hold a candle to GPT-4.