4 ms·
a dystopian world in which computer memory is sort of expensive, god save us
by beeflet 10mo ago
a dystopian world in which computer memory is sort of expensive, god save us
- reaperducer 10mo agoMaybe programmers will have to start making their programs efficient again. Maybe OpenAI's RAM monopoly is what kills Electron.
- ethbr1 10mo ago1. Man creates apps 2. Browser destroys apps 3. Browser creates apps 4. AI destroys browser apps ... 5. AI eats all memory 6. Forth inherits the Earth
- unethical_ban 10mo agoWell, uh... There it is.
- checker659 10mo agoElectron is no match for a O(n^3) algorithm.
- dijit 10mo agovibe coders are likely to use electron. Sam is betting that vibe coders are the future. Whoever wins, we lose.
- LorenDB 10mo ago"Sort of expensive" doesn't really convey the true state of affairs, i.e. memory prices have jumped 300% or more.
- wpm 10mo agoMemory today Water tomorrow This is the natural consequence of letting individual psychos control more money than most world economies.
- beeflet 10mo agoI am not convinced by this whole AI water scare. Doesn't the water just evaporate? It's not a finite resource like oil. If the problem is that these companies are creating an externality by straining the local water supply, then maybe we should simply tax water more where appropriate? I don't think any sort of shame will be effective. For the past decade water has been mismanaged in inefficient farming practices, like bad irrigation practices or production of alfalfa to feed foreign livestock. We also waste a ton of water on our big dumb lawns. "cooling datacenters" doesn't seem like that big of a deal.
- iteria 10mo agoFresh water is a finite resource. It replenishes extremely slowly in certain forms. Like ground water. Lakes and rivers can run dry if you pull too much from them, see: Iran. AI data centers are making the problem of overuse worse. We were already pulling too much water in areas. With these data centers, some places that didn't have a problem are starting to.
- rowanG077 10mo agoFresh water is not a finite resource. You can simply make more by taking sea water and pumping in energy. It's not cheap but it's doable.
- abenga 10mo agoIn the short term (while you build your desalinators), and in local water-stressed regions, it very much is.
- dijit 10mo agoperhaps the most hackernews take in this thread. desalination isn’t just expensive, it’s existentially costly in terms of energy consumption, and I don’t see any dyson spheres in production.
- 10mo ago