Prepare for HDD availability trouble as they're getting sold out too

Quoting: elmapulif they can stop us from storing data locally, they can stop us from preserving content (eg: piracy) as well.

Quoting: JohnologueThey're taking away our right to own private computers

I think this hits the nail on the head, although I wouldn't frame it as a "right" to own computers. You don't have a right to own a Ferrari. Still, the spirit is correct in that computers have become a staple of modern society for almost everyone. The shift is, IMHO, to get everyone onto mobile-first. Then you can use your mobile (i.e. dumb terminal) to connect to a more powerful machine (HaaS - hardware as a service - "cloud").

We have seen a bigger push for remote gaming via Nvidia Now and Amazon's Luna. Sure, a lot of us would hem and haw about latency, but I've played a few games on Luna to test it out (Indiana Jones, Resident Evil 2, Hogwarts) and they all played "good enough". For the masses that aren't surfing video game websites, it will almost certainly be more than good enough.

The question is why? My conspiracy driven mind always thinks it is some kind of authoritarian gambit to centralize control. "You will eat ze bugs" sort of stuff. But hey, maybe our child loving, party island overlords really do have the world's best interest in mind... :(

Quoting: chickenb00Balanced take: there is no conspiracy, this is simply a market reaction, and once these data centres are built but the envisioned demand does not materialize, prices for all components will fall as data centres stop being built.
I thought about panic-buying HDDs too, but they're expensive now, and anyways I have nothing to store.

This seems reasonable and though I am in the conspiracy camp, I don't have any insider information. If we accept your position, what is troublesome is that a.) what if the market demand IS there? and b.) if the market demand is not there, what does this say about the entire leadership of these companies/industry?

Quoting: JohnologueThey're taking away our right to own private computers

Nah, you can still own your older computers. You just won't be able to affordably upgrade them. 😀

I do lots with my older computers. I buy used. I haven't bought a brand new computer in over 15 years. The laptop that I currently use for gaming is 6 years old. I'm doing fine for games with it. The new AAA games don't interest me anyway.

I suspect that flash drives will become expensive as the next thing in line because of the AI boom.

Perhaps Blu-ray Discs will become popular, and we will start recording data on them. 128 GB isn't bad for me, but it's better than keeping data on a used HDD/SSD if I don't have a choice to buy a new one.

It's an opportunity for computer stores to make money by refurbishing hardware and selling it. I hope people will stop throwing away old computers or broken hardware because it doesn't improve this situation.

Last edited by gbudny on 18 Feb 2026 at 10:52 pm UTC

Quoting: eggroleWe have seen a bigger push for remote gaming via Nvidia Now and Amazon's Luna. Sure, a lot of us would hem and haw about latency, but I've played a few games on Luna to test it out (Indiana Jones, Resident Evil 2, Hogwarts) and they all played "good enough". For the masses that aren't surfing video game websites, it will almost certainly be more than good enough.

looks like they are using video data from geforce now to train their ai as well

[gamer nexus quote - nvidia using geforce now as training data](https://youtu.be/Sdry-clMeRs?t=1614)

Quoting: chickenb00Balanced take: there is no conspiracy, this is simply a market reaction, and once these data centres are built but the envisioned demand does not materialize, prices for all components will fall as data centres stop being built.
I thought about panic-buying HDDs too, but they're expensive now, and anyways I have nothing to store.

I've had someone share an article with me about datacenter hoarding also causing a sudden rise (and then following crash) in chip prices during the pandemic. I think the problem is the ridiculous concentration of economic power that big tech companies have to outbid everyone on the majority of supply in short bursts.

I don't think it's an intentional conspiracy. I also wouldn't be surprised if they considered it a happy accident.

Quoting: eggrole

Quoting: elmapulif they can stop us from storing data locally, they can stop us from preserving content (eg: piracy) as well.

Quoting: JohnologueThey're taking away our right to own private computers

I think this hits the nail on the head

I think we need to draw a distinction or two here. I would not be surprised if, noticing this situation, some oligarchs decide to try to take advantage of it. They're opportunistic as all get out. But they're not smart enough for this to have been a plan all along. Have you seen some of those Epstein emails? These guys are fucking morons. Their ideas are incoherent, their plans are simpleminded. If they didn't have the masses of money and this sort of elite-scumbucket-solidarity backing them up, their stupid playbooks wouldn't get anywhere.

In the old days it was plausible to imagine the billionaire class as masterminds whose nefarious, complex plans succeeded because our every move would play into their hands. It turns out they're just dipstick scuzzbuckets with avalanches of cash, whose stupid brute-force plots kind of succeed because avalanches of cash.

Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 18 Feb 2026 at 11:58 pm UTC

inb4 they start selling headless terminals that have to be connected to the cloud, where all our files would reside (at a hefty monthly fee, of course)

Quoting: pbinb4 they start selling headless terminals that have to be connected to the cloud, where all our files would reside (at a hefty monthly fee, of course)

Well, Chrome Books (Google) and Mobile Phones (Google and Apple) are not far off being headless terminals. The public uses them for consuming content, most of their functionality relies on cloud services (e.g. WhatsApp, Instagram, iCloud, Google Maps, Google Docs, etc).

People are already being manipulated into not having fully functional computers any more.

Quoting: hardpenguinThis is getting ridiculous

This is Dark Souls of ridiculous situations.

Last edited by vic-bay on 19 Feb 2026 at 10:30 am UTC

Quoting: g000hWell, Chrome Books (Google) and Mobile Phones (Google and Apple) are not far off being headless terminals. The public uses them for consuming content, most of their functionality relies on cloud services (e.g. WhatsApp, Instagram, iCloud, Google Maps, Google Docs, etc).

Not sure I agree here. My Android smartphone, for me, is effectively a minicomputer. I do not use it for any of the "functionality" you've listed here. No streaming. No games. No social media. I use it for visiting forums, online research, offline calendar & task management, recording notes, offline office functionality, etc. This is not all that different than my daily driver laptop. On top of that, I also take photographs and send and receive phone calls. These devices are what you make of them.

Quoting: Purple Library GuyThey're opportunistic as all get out. But they're not smart enough for this to have been a plan all along.

These guys are fucking morons. Their ideas are incoherent, their plans are simpleminded. If they didn't have the masses of money and this sort of elite-scumbucket-solidarity backing them up, their stupid playbooks wouldn't get anywhere.

In the old days it was plausible to imagine the billionaire class as masterminds

It turns out they're just dipstick scuzzbuckets with avalanches of cash, whose stupid brute-force plots kind of succeed because avalanches of cash.

I don't disagree with any of this per-se, but the fact that the descendants of the old school oligarchs DO have all those buckets of cash and can deploy it on people who aren't as dumb to carry the water is the reality.

I also suspect it isn't a clockwork precision crafted plan they have. More like, "lets centralize control". And then offer financial incentives to do what they want within their industries. Heck, I bet most of the people higher up in companies like nvidia/apple/etc are all completely out of the loop in terms of a grand conspiracy and are simply acting in the most profitable way they can.

Further, I think it is folly to underestimate your opponents. Sure those emails show a bunch of room temperature IQs, but I'm more concerned with who was behind organizing Epstein. The people in the emails are, IMHO, the worker bees of the actual oligarchs. Someone financed it all. Someone was/is using whatever happened as blackmail. Those are the real "masterminds" - the names we don't see.