I'd love to know how low the population density is when it's not cost effective to pull fiber where there is already pre-existing infrastructure. The power cooperative in my mostly rural county in east Tennessee started a fiber buildout just before Covid hit. The original idea was a three phase plan starting in the highest density (i.e. most profitable) areas first, using that revenue to finance less dense (i.e. less profitable) areas, then taking that revenue to finance the least dense (unprofitable) areas. The original project timeline from break ground to break even was something like 15 years.

Covid changed things, the state had some additional money for grants and there was a huge need from the school system for more bandwidth as they were providing wifi to the parking lots so students/county residents had better connectivity during the pandemic. The entire project scope was substantially completed around 2023. You now can get 10gbe anywhere in the electrical service area for less than $100/mo for residential customers.

Obviously, there are benefits when the infrastructure is owned by a cooperative where the membership has a real voice in what happens, but it doesn't have to be for this to be economically feasible.

I thought it was dodgy add-ons that caused most problems.

Anyhow, popularity alone makes a tool a hacking target. If everyone switched to say Joomla, then it would become the main target.

...saying such is "bad for you". Coffee studies alternate outcomes as an obligation to the Study Gods. Been seeing alternations since the 70's.

That just swaps old bugs for new bugs. Fitting goofy poorly documented biz rules is the hard part.

Actually, the biggest reason that adoption rates are much, much higher in Australia (despite lack of infrastructure), is that Australia has access to less expensive vehicles imported from China and SK.

The US, otoh, is too busy trying to protect its legacy automakers, who, much as they did in the 70s, decided to ignore trends and continue to sell oversized, overpriced, gas-guzzling vehicles for as long as they could convince the American market to buy them.

"You presume they have the available funds to update the household. It's an easy thing for early adopters who tend to be wealthier. Its another things for the mass market that is more budget conscious. And may also live in older homes that may need some modernization for the charger installation."

Level one charging can in fact be sufficient for those with commutes less than or equal to the national average. It even works for longer commutes to "top off" the battery during the week and hitting the afore-mentioned Walmart or other charger on the weekend while shopping.

"What is “local” is different in the US and EU.."

Again, you focused on the EU while ignoring China and Australia. Australia, in particular, almost exactly mirrors the US in regard to size and driving patterns. But again, local is local. The average commute in the US is 27min. It's 25min in the EU. Australia takes 63.7 minutes! (And before you start on transit, driving is the still most common way to get to work in Europe, with 59% of EU workers using private cars as their primary mode of transportation,)

"They’ve done far better with the public infrastructure required "

Nope. The United States has a significantly more extensive and robust public charging infrastructure than Australia. The US benefits from a massive rollout of Tesla Superchargers open to all EVs, billions in federal NEVI (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) funding, and rapid deployment of high-voltage (800V) stations by networks like Electrify America and Ionna.

Your arguments are a couple of years out of date, and again keep focusing on how we're so "different" from the rest of the world.

We're not that exceptional.

I thought it was still popular in embedded systems that don't need 16 and 32 bit architectures? Don't some MCU's run Z80 instructions? I guess the chip is different as it probably includes RAM and other goodies because that's cheaper than using separate chips.

What kind of CPU's and chipsets does one find in small and cheap gizmos?

...blueberry marshmallows!

Probably. Quality is not bots' strong point so far and maintenance is almost always the most costly part of software.

I wonder if it can be diced up and used for amalgamation plastics where esthetics don't matter much.

> I've started making music using AI. I already have an album of 23 songs

I'm curious, what tools do you use and which have you tried and rejected?

And new PC's cost an arm & leg thanks to the AI bubble.

As an EV owner, I have to disagree with most of what you said.

The U.S. driving pattern also isn’t nearly as unique as it’s often portrayed. Like Europe, most driving consists of commuting, errands, and local trips. Roughly 90% of Americans live in urban or suburban areas, and only a minority take multiple long-distance road trips each year.

Charging infrastructure has improved enormously in just the past few years. Companies like Shell and Walmart are building networks alongside Tesla, and even my local Walmart in the Midwest has chargers. Chargers continue to get faster, but even today’s charging times often line up with the rest stops or meal breaks I’d be making on a road trip anyway.

About two-thirds of U.S. households own their homes, giving them access to some form of home charging. The biggest challenge remains apartment dwellers, where charging infrastructure still lags. That’s a legitimate issue, but it’s an infrastructure problem, not a flaw inherent to EVs.

And it’s worth noting that EV adoption has surged in countries like China and Australia, the latter having driving distances and population distribution that are often compared to the U.S.

I’m just tired of hearing that America is somehow “special,” and that technologies and solutions working successfully in much of the rest of the world are uniquely destined to fail here.

The price thing is important. What I suspect is that when companies can no longer subsidize bot use via investor funds and per market-share fights, users will balk at prices and look for cheaper alternatives, which may result in better model compression and/or overseas commodification, meaning the US data-centers won't be competitive, and those investors will get screwed, possibly triggering a Wallstreet crash.

"The Choppah deleted my tumah!"