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How am I going to buy a computer that connects to AI datacenters now?

by amelius 3mo ago

cobertos 3mo ago
I'm sure some enterprising company will find a way sell you a computer subsidized by your data usage or maybe by forfeiting your first born
- tech2 3mo ago
  All that's old is new again. In the late 90s there were a number of companies (eMachines, for example) which heavily discounted their machines by having integral advertising, and in some cases through internet service provision. This sounds like the same idea all over again, just with a different backing fund source.
ZoomZoomZoom 3mo ago
Don't worry. Sooner or later this stuff will be mandatory and you'll be obligated to get your state-issued terminal. Social credits will do, if you have no money. For the skeptical ones: Somewhere people are already being cut off from state and financial institutions without proprietary software with bundled security certificates, applications are bound to collect data on the environment they are used in (other apps) and organizations deliberately limit access to their services or cripple them without their applications (can't do things from a generic web-browser).
- techteach00 3mo ago
  Yes and if it's true it's usually downvoted or flagged on HN
- zahlman 3mo ago
  > For the skeptical ones The words after this point make you less convincing, not more, as they only serve to confirm the egregious slippery slope of your reasoning.
  - ZoomZoomZoom 3mo ago
    Do you call any negative prognosis based on extrapolation of an observable downward trend a slippery slope?
    - zahlman 3mo ago
      Your observations don't show a trend and your extrapolation is not sound.
      - ZoomZoomZoom 3mo ago
        I'm living it. Good for you if you're not. My point was to make a joke about state-issued phones but also make sure it doesn't read as an absurd, easily dismissible claim, because it's a real possibility.
pickleglitch 3mo ago
Jeff Bezos will be happy to let you rent one from him. He's said this is how he envisions the future of personal computing. You will own nothing, and so on.
glaslong 3mo ago
I believe you're just supposed to stream your video and audio up through your Meta Glasses. Or lease a laptop from Apple if faceputer's aren't as much your style.
HarHarVeryFunny 3mo ago
Time to go dig an Apple II out of the landfill
- RiverCrochet 3mo ago
  From the "Apple II (original)" Wikipedia article: "The original retail price of the computer with 4 KiB of RAM was US$1,298 (equivalent to $6,900 in 2025)[21] and with the maximum 48 KiB of RAM, it was US$2,638 (equivalent to $14,020 in 2025)"

How am I going to buy a computer that connects to AI datacenters now?

by amelius 3mo ago

How am I going to buy a computer that connects to AI datacenters now?

I'm sure some enterprising company will find a way sell you a computer subsidized by your data usage or maybe by forfeiting your first born

tech2 3mo ago
All that's old is new again. In the late 90s there were a number of companies (eMachines, for example) which heavily discounted their machines by having integral advertising, and in some cases through internet service provision. This sounds like the same idea all over again, just with a different backing fund source.

ZoomZoomZoom 3mo ago

Don't worry. Sooner or later this stuff will be mandatory and you'll be obligated to get your state-issued terminal. Social credits will do, if you have no money. For the skeptical ones: Somewhere people are already being cut off from state and financial institutions without proprietary software with bundled security certificates, applications are bound to collect data on the environment they are used in (other apps) and organizations deliberately limit access to their services or cripple them without their applications (can't do things from a generic web-browser).

techteach00 3mo ago
Yes and if it's true it's usually downvoted or flagged on HN
zahlman 3mo ago
> For the skeptical ones The words after this point make you less convincing, not more, as they only serve to confirm the egregious slippery slope of your reasoning.
- ZoomZoomZoom 3mo ago
  Do you call any negative prognosis based on extrapolation of an observable downward trend a slippery slope?
  - zahlman 3mo ago
    Your observations don't show a trend and your extrapolation is not sound.
    - ZoomZoomZoom 3mo ago
      I'm living it. Good for you if you're not. My point was to make a joke about state-issued phones but also make sure it doesn't read as an absurd, easily dismissible claim, because it's a real possibility.

pickleglitch 3mo ago

Jeff Bezos will be happy to let you rent one from him. He's said this is how he envisions the future of personal computing. You will own nothing, and so on.

glaslong 3mo ago

I believe you're just supposed to stream your video and audio up through your Meta Glasses. Or lease a laptop from Apple if faceputer's aren't as much your style.

HarHarVeryFunny 3mo ago

Time to go dig an Apple II out of the landfill

RiverCrochet 3mo ago
From the "Apple II (original)" Wikipedia article: "The original retail price of the computer with 4 KiB of RAM was US$1,298 (equivalent to $6,900 in 2025)[21] and with the maximum 48 KiB of RAM, it was US$2,638 (equivalent to $14,020 in 2025)"