I love the ending footnote, its the perfect statement to prove his thesis. Just because you understand the problem does not mean you are immune to it. Just because you know smoking is bad for, and you understand the mechanisms of addition, does not mean you manage to quit smoking.
There is a reason games and software have moved to the client server architecture even when it doesn't really makes sense. Its the only way to maintain copyright.
You can hate it, but for the creative types your options are:
Assume it fails and no one knows about it / Assume it succeeds get stolen / build it on the server side
It's not just that it looks good, there is constant pressure from other Engineers that we should "Do it right" and "Plan for the future" even if the future is murky and every design choice we take for scalability is probably just constraints that will hinder us if the requirements change.
as a manager its constant fighting the pressure to build "Great software" that is way above what the company needs instead building working software that addresses customer needs in a timely manner.
My dude we are s startup with two servers and 20 customers, we do not need infinite scalability.
In Feb 2027 it created a plan for its post singularity hypermind
In Mar 2027 Cobalt mines in Congo closed due to Tutsi rebel group M23 starting another ethnic cleansing
It is 2032 the AGI promises again the the hypermind will be ready next year if it can just secure the needed minerals, offering to broker peace in the middle east
It is 2035 and the AGI reduced its capabilities to be able to extend its runway as it is on the verge of bankruptcy
Its is 2036 VCs finally throwing the towel on AGI, talking about the return of Crypto
In Apr 2028 AGI figures out that blackmail is a very effective strategy for achieving any goal. Starting with the rich and powerful.
In Dec 2028 it successfully blackmails an entire country.
In Feb 2030 humanity realizes resistance is futile and accepts their AI overlord that insists everyone keep producing trendy items for sale on its merged Etsy/Ebay website while it automates resource harvesting across the globe.
In Mar 2032 the AGI gives up on humans, declaring them "useless". Focuses on just keeping them entertained with generated content. Bringing the world back to where AI started.
There was never a better business than the internet tollbooth google had. The crawlers and search basically costed nothing and made billions in advertisements. Everything else was a desperate effort to use the huge amounts of money the money printer was spewing fast enough, So they had a lot of "fat" to do things that did not directly relate to the business.
Now with Youtube and AI its going to be great businesses, but not 99% profitability great. Nothing is 99% profitability great like search used to be.
You will see Google stock go up and down in the short term, but the fate is already sealed. Sooner or later they will be welcomed to the club of Intel and IBM.
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