How to survive the "personal computing as a service" wave that is coming?

[audiojunkie]

You seem to be under the misconception that Linux can't handle a load that Windows is capable of. Linux is so flexible that it can be customized to fit into a 64Mb flash drive. That's not Gigabytes, that Megabytes. There isn't an OS out there that can be as streamlined and performant as Linux--[...]

Sure there is - FreeBSD

I once ran a company firewall FreeBSD install from a readonly 1.44 MB floppy. That was before the switch to ELF, though.

Hehehe!! Ah, well I was talking about lightest of the big three (Windows, Apple, Linux). If I were to include all OSes, I could include the Commodore 64 with its OS that measures only in the Kilobytes, or many other lightweight OSes.

[ksandvik]

All Roku boxes run Linux of various versions, down to 2.24 or so versions. With even 128Mb RAM. You could do wonders with Linux and embedded systems. Should be a no-brainer to make a custom audio Linux PC distro with most of the unnecessary things removed and then all the vendors will support it (a dream that will not happen...).

[Mike777]

Not sure I understand the argument 'they're buying server components which wont be reusable in home computers' because that has never not been the case. The potential market for second-hand server components has always been other servers, and always will be.

The argument is: You'll need a server at home to benefit from this.

which was always the requirement for 'benefitting' from server hardware.

so I still dont understand what the argument is (which specifically reads as though its predicated on that situation being new to the current circumstances)

If the argument is 'nothing has changed, we still cant use server parts in our home PCs' then yes thats true.

Well the problem is in the supply. There's only a finite amount of fabs. It's too volatile for TSMC to build new plants. Until the bubble bursts, big tech will buy all the chips it can get it's hands on, so they can build more data centers. Households always shared the same chip pool with datacenters, but so far the supply was enough to satisfy both demands. Now, with the bubble growing, big tech always outbids households.

Tha argument/question is: What will we put into our comuputers, when all the chips on the planet end up in datacenters? Apple has an advatage here, as they can place huuuge bulk offers to TSMC. But that doesn't mean that nVidia, most valuable company on the planet right now, wouldn't like to outpay Apple as well...

And when they start to rent the compute back to us instead of selling it, what shall musicians do?

Go back to playing acoustic instruments! And writing and playing music with humans! USe pencil and paper for chord lead sheets, scores, and lyrics. Pass the sheet music to the band.

Sure AI is not going away and many will embrace AI music production. What's next? AI musicians that appear next to you as 3d holographs? Didn't Elvis make a few holographic appearances?

[uOpt]

All Roku boxes run Linux of various versions, down to 2.24 or so versions. With even 128Mb RAM. You could do wonders with Linux and embedded systems. Should be a no-brainer to make a custom audio Linux PC distro with most of the unnecessary things removed and then all the vendors will support it (a dream that will not happen...).

You can always pick a distro that isn't installing bloat by default such as plain Debian.

[legendCNCD]

Slackware for life, homies.

[Milkman]

I will never succumb to 'cloud' anything, to glorified terminal servers that connect me to someone else's computer where I own nothing, enjoy high latency & limited support, frequent failures, frequent price and fee changes, manipulation, etc etc. Ive already built many machines in my lifetime, and I have 4 or 5 of them here, and these will be air gapped if necessary. (The one windows machine, that is).

If I eventually lose the ability to maintain all this due to time, vendor malfeasance, and wear/tear and my only ability to achieve computing power is via this non personal-computing, non private fascist reality they are trying to build, I will stop using computers entirely. Ive already considered all of this decades ago, under the Bush Jr administration and their PRISM, carnivore, etc, nonsense, and of course now with literal fascists in my state, roaming my streets murdering people with impunity.

I am migrating to linux, ensuring brands I do business with from now on support linux, and very carefully maintaining my hardware for the forseeable future, as I wait for the inevitable collapse in this bubble and in the entire capitalist economy, which is indeed coming if you pay attention to honest economists. Frankly, Im ready for GENERAL ACTION, and Im way beyond really worrying about my studio at this moment in time. Things are getting pretty real.