DRAM is a commodity in both the actual sense (the stuff from different sources is pretty much interchangeable) and the sense you've described. You, literally you, can ring up someone who runs a contract fab and ask them to make you some DRAM. It's pretty straightfoward stuff. Here's a YouTuber making some in his garage: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3F....

There are a bunch of boutique DRAM producers. They're small scale and do specialty stuff (the actual high end DRAM). The commodity stuff you want to buy is dominated by a few companies that are vertically integrated, super efficient and make their money on massive volume. They also switch around a fair bit because during booms like this one making memory seems like a great idea, but then there's a bust and half of them go broke. SK Hynix alone started out as Hyundai, merged with LG's memory unit, got booted out of Hyundai during a bust, got bought by a conglomerate, bought out Intel's memory unit, and is currently a major producer.

But hey, it's boom time so Intel's talking about making memory again, CXMT is firing up and the majors are all building new fabs as quickly as they can borrow the money to pay for them.

$25B-$100B total investment for a modern memory fab in the US, depending on the capacity you want to build out. At the larger size you'd be manufacturing at a reduced capacity and getting some revenue before the total investment was needed. Potentially allowing you to split a campus between multiple process nodes for a long-term upgrade path.

The US is about 20% of the consumer DRAM market, so about $20B. Dropping perhaps $40B to build those fabs means a significant fraction of the market would need to be captured to have a good annual return or even to get a positive total return.

Memory shortages are a tough problem to fix with supply side only. Putting a tax on RAM that ends up in a data center instead of a consumer product is the immediate short cut, but it would slow the momentum for the AI industry in any country that dared to do it. So I can't see it happening in the US unless we admit we don't need to "beat" China at popping the biggest AI bubble.

A general named Randy George would normally be a good influence in Hegseth's army but the guy wanted to know why Apache helicopters were buzzing Kid Rock's swimming pool, and you just can't tolerate that kind of killjoy.

There are a bunch of photos of Trump meeting with AI executives earlier this week to sign the so-called voluntary safety pact. But really it was a meeting to work out data center expansion and keeping the investment money rolling in for AI businesses. Trump and AI billionaire class are running the US right now, so I doubt there will be any relief for consumers to get better prices and inventory for consumer products, or to realistically protect consumers from AI malfunction and abuse.

I'm blasted with 30+ text messages a day. Most of them AI generated or at least AI directed. They use varying fake phone numbers so my blocking doesn't work. And for whatever reason, Google's AI powered spam detection does not stop many of them, about 10-15 get through every day. It's almost like everyone who matters is happy with how the system is working.

I prefer the first option, it sounds the nicest and easiest. Assuming infinite growth is possible.

Or it is a play to place corporations under central government control, basically corporate statism. Such a system typically buys billionaires a seat at the table. Considering that table is of the most powerful and economically significant government in human history, that is likely a very interesting arrangement for the billionaire class.

Three we are going to see a bump in immigration to the US as the Republican's have made immigration enforcement a total disaster...

Disaster?

I hardly think so....they have gotten the PR wrong in many cases, but I and lots of folks appreciate the efforts and accomplishments so far.

The main problem is, we're not rounding up and deporting illegals fast enough in large enough numbers.

But progress is progress and we're already starting to see some change in good numbers.

One nice side effect will be, hopefully, if we can deport enough NON citizens, they won't be counted in the next census and the reapportionment of house seats to more represent actual CITIZENS in states will come about....

Open up more housing to citizens with illegals gone out of places....and take huge fiscal burden off our government services (education, medical, etc)....with them off the roles being a burden.

Lol, a company dominated by Rationalists/Yudowski fans is "far left activists" now ;) The entire premise of HPOMR is that Lily Potter cast a spell to make her sister Petunia more attractive so she could marry a better husband, and when they adopted Harry, instead of having him attend public school, they homeschooled him, so he became brilliant. Very "woke" premise there ;) I don't know if you've heard, but the Rationalist community is the middle of a scandal right now for putting career-limiting pressure on women in the AI space to attend sex parties, including rape-themed ones. All those dang woke feminists, amiright?

You can suggest that, but you are saying "give up your close ties to family/friends/social life", and "move further from your job, or find a new one". Obviously if they really want kids they will make it work, but it's the ones who would like them but are not willing to give up so much of their lives, and limit themselves to one or zero.

Im saying exactly that....if need be, you MOVE to where life is better in general.

Grow up, be an adult make adult decisions.

When exactly did people start being such pussies and afraid to move out on their own...? This wasn't so unusual only a few decades back.

Hell in pioneer days....married couples would load up the wagon and head west often to never see family again.....

That's a bit extreme but is shows mankind often moves to where it is best to live.....when did people get so afraid to leave mommy and daddy? Can people not make friends in new places?

People act like it's a big deal.

Ever since I went out of state to college...I've almost never lived back in my home city or state....it's been great and no downside whatsoever....

I don't see what the big fucking problem ius with kids today.

I have a VERY tight loving family I grew up with, parents, cousins....I still have lifelong friends there and along the way in all states I've lived in.

Moving doesn't mean the end of relationships, just changes....

From observation and what I read...it seems that largely, at least in the US....it is liberal women/couples choosing to NOT have kids the most and birth rates amoung conservatives are rising in some cases....

Good deal that means over time...the liberals will self select themselves out of society....win win.

I'll stick with my laptop from 2019. It shipped with 16GB and I upgraded it to 32GB. In today's prices that's a small house or 100 lbs of ground beef.

Really though, children are a huge commitment that, when done properly, requires you basically remake your life around what is best for a stable family unit for the next 20 years and really, once you have a kid, you'll always be a parent.

Err....well, that's been the common, well known NORMAL way of humans since the beginning till about...well, maybe 10-15 years ago when people went off the rails and norms went down the drain?

I mean, no one questioned this at all in all of humanity till just recently......

I think more than anything this is due to toxic feminism which has been fermenting to a head in recent years.....woman are going against what nature tells them and we have society backing that up.

But I get surprised to hear people today stating what you just did sounding like it is a foreign concept someone is newly trying to push on society?

it's hard to say if the Republicans will continue to lean into anti-immigration as hard as Trump did.

God I hope so.....we still have a LONG way to go to get rid of all the illegals that are currently here and need to go....

It's going to need a bit more than cheaper baby supplies. For example, a lot of people can't afford to buy a family sized home.

Suggestion to them...MOVE out of the fucking urban city areas....don't live in NYC....

The US is HUGE and there are tons of places with great jobs, MUCH lower costs of living and your housing dollar goes much further.....less crime, better education, etc.

There is plenty of good housing in you're willing to move out of the areas where it sucks.

Oh when I had an apartment there was no extra room to give someone. And 2 bed where I live now is $3700/month, which is more than my remaining mortgage.

GFC...where the fuck do you live where a 2 bedroom apt is $3700/mo?

I rent a 3 bedroom HOUSE for faaar less than that a month....