The big frontier model providers are all moving towards an Enterprise-first approach to their products, gradually nerfing the 'value' lines and eliminating any subsidization paid plans may have previously (and currently) have. The free ride of investment subsidy couldn't have continued much longer and allow the companies to remain solvent.

This is just a part of that: super special tools and models will be kept amongst a small subset of enterprise companies and governments at a high premium, and they will gradually trickle out subsets of those capabilities with nerfing to others.

In the next 6-12 months we can expect coding plans, initially used to hook companies and build mindshare, to gradually become more expensive per-unit-of-utility. Claude Max is easily 1/2 as capable today as it was at Claude 4.6 or even 4.5 launch due to shortened quotas. Expect OpenAI and others to start doing the same thing, if they haven't already.

I don't give a shit about movement to the right or left, not right now. I just want basic competence and support for the rule of law, because those are the things we've totally lost under the current GOP. A bit of compassion would be good, too. What I wouldn't give to have Dubya back.

The EFF is probably the most important advocacy organization that educates and acts on behalf of normal people's digital rights, freedoms, and privacy. The legal actions they take in support of these are meaningful. Now that the CFPB has been dismantled and the FCC and FTC had their teeth and spines removed, groups like EFF are the only thing we have in the US pushing back against millions of dollars of corporate lobbying money.

I'm not sure what you're talking about regarding RMS. Aside from the open letter they published after he was re-elected to the FSF board, which is fine to disagree with (I do), I don't think EFF did anything to him. Plenty of people pointed angry fingers at him in 2019 but AFAIK his resignation from the FSF was his own decision.

That was actually my thought. It wasn't until I got to the mention of Twitter than I figured out they didn't mean X11.

I did think switching from X11 to Wayland was a funny thing to post publicly about. And a funny thing for /. to pick up.

While I can't drop $2K here and there throughout the year without thinking.....I don't consider $2K a bank breaker. I'm not rich, but I do like to save up and drop some coin 1-2 times a year on something nice.

Maybe cameras or new lenses (lenses can be $$)....or the odd cell from time to time.

I think last time I dropped about $1100 or so for my iPhone 12 Pro Max.....and I did pay it off 12 mos interest free with Apple Pay....

But that's just me using their money...in truth I almost NEVER buy anything I don't have cash in hand for.

But if they let me finance interest free I'll do that and keep the cash in an interest bearing account of some kind.

Again I'm far from wealthy, but I have no real debts.....but I know a lot of people and $2K is pocket change for them....and these aren't few and far between types of people, I see these types all the time all over the place.

It's not rare by any stretch of the imagination.

That's 10 times more than I'm willing to spend on a phone.

That's fair.

But do remember, there are a LOT of people out there with a LOT of disposable income.....

I don't trade phones often I currently have a 12 Max Pro....and it's looking a bit long in the tooth. Not holding a charge long enough, and the lightening connector isn't dependable for charging, so I've been using nothing but magnetic charging past year or so.

While I'm quite interested in hearing about and seeing the "fold" Apple phone.....from my early understanding, it will NOT have the camera specs they 18 Pro Max (or whatever they call it) phone will have.

I'm MUCH more interested in camera than folding...

I think you give him too much credit. I don't think his "messaging strategy" has any design, nor is it a strategy. It's just Trump saying whatever shit bubbles to the top of what sometimes passes for a mind. And it's random and changes every four hours because he's random and changes what he believes every four hours. Or every four minutes.

I don't think he even "learned" to act like a reality show... I think this is just who he is and who he always has been, albeit with an added layer of growing dementia. He was moderately successful on reality TV not because he figured out how to be moderately successful on reality TV, but because his normal personality, style and complete lack of ethics, morality or consistency just happens to be perfect for reality TV.

What you're trying to say is that it was created by the NSA, and that it's a honeypot.

At Walmart, extremely low quality everything is available year-round.

It's been ages since I was last in a Walmart.....when I looked at the extreme poor quality of meat and even most veggies/fruit I could not believe how bad it was, and not significantly cheaper than one of the "real" grocery stores around the area.

I just can't believe people regularly shop at Walmart....at least for food....???

Absolutely not the case. The Neo is essentially Apple's first attempt at a budget laptop, and the market segment they're targeting is entirely different.

Case in point: My dad has been a Windows user for 20+ years and has always decried Apple as "decent hardware that's overpriced and running a lobotomized operating system." However he hates Windows 11 more and decided to replace his aging Windows laptop with a Neo last week. So far he's been impressed, though is still dealing with a learning curve. I guarantee you he isn't alone.

I think the Neo is Apple's attempt at getting into a new segment of lower-priced computers AND taking advantage of Microslop dropping the ball hard when it comes to Windows 11 shit quality and bullshit hardware requirements.

Perhaps somewhat ironically, I suspect the market really being cannibalized is potential new Linux users who go with a New instead of installing Linux on a cheap Windows laptop.

I think after this moronic attack, they now know they don't actually need nukes, at least not until the world loses its appetite for oil, or finds other sources that make Gulf state production irrelevant.

Why do they disable the GPU core....?

Sure, maybe nice to live in... how about a job so you can afford to live there? Pretty sure Mayberry (that sort of town) doesn't have many $100k+ jobs around.

See that's your problem....there aren't 2 choices....NYC or Mayberry.

That's been dead for a 100 years.

I've never lived as an adult in a major metropolitan area, but in what I term "normal city"....mostly in the SE of the US.

I've worked in IT for most all of it...various things, lead DBA, some sys admin Linux....etc.

I've made well into the 6 figures area and lived in areas where there was plenty to do, cost of living was more than reasonable....and great folks to live with a next door to....

Nothing remotely resembling "Mayberry" nor anything remotely rural....but nothing urban either.

And around here, making $133K+ can buy you a nice house and a pretty sweet life.

End-stage capitalism is real, and we're in it. We will course correct, or we will collapse. Commentary like yours makes me think we're too stupid to course correct, and collapse is the only tool Darwin has to wash you out of the decision making process.

So, what does "course correction look like to you?

Socialism? Communism?

If not those....then what?