this post was submitted on 19 May 2026
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I recently watched a video about the first electronic synthesizer. It was built in 1897, and was housed in the basement of an entire city block in NYC. Several decades later, and it would fit in a suitcase, with far more functionality. It worked, but it was huge and unwieldly, to the point of being completely impractical. It needed to wait until the technology caught up to it, and made it a truly viable instrument, and not just a concept.
Data Centers are like that 1897 synthesizer. It works, sure, but at what cost? It's expensive in every way, from the building costs, the energy costs, the environmental costs, etc. We have a concept and a prototype, but not a truly viable product yet. Maybe in a decade or two, with a proper goal in mind, we can get there, but right now, Data Centers are just that big, dumb synthesizer that takes up a city block.
Ah but that's where you're mistaken. The electronic Synthesizer actually had a use. Data centers are a waste the whole way around, and they always will be.
Valid.