I like his approach of stating that these are big claims, but cannot be really evaluated in any meaningful way, as there is no useful public data to look at.

In my opinion this is the main crux of the whole topic. One party (the US government) has a boatload of various quality sensor data that could be studied, but it’s classified. As a result nobody can believe anyone’s statements as they aren’t supported by anything.

What happens, when the non smart microwave finally breaks and only smart ones are being sold? You could buy used, but what happens when that used inventory is used up?

Fortunately in case of microwaves, the simpler ones have the same internal parts as smart ones, and as such some supply is most likely going to be available.

The situation in the article is for sure unique, as replacing implants with a newer version is probably not feasible. Many other simpler medical devices are different, as they could be replaced as needed.

Going bankrupt is not the only potential issue. There can also be situations, where a company makes several generations of a product, and abandons support for the old ones.

This is already a serious concern with eg. older gen chip fabrication. The machinery required for each generation was built when that gen was new, and when that machinery breaks down, it might not be economical to rebuild that capability.

Is this really a year old post? It was a good read regardless.

To comment on the topic, this is going to happen more and more, especially as proprietary stuff becomes more and more complex. With implants it’s obviously more serious, but this also applies to anything from cars to game consoles.

I’m no stranger to scrounging junkyards for car parts or ebay to replace components from an old console. However that cannot go on forever, as parts get more rare. This is somewhat remedied with eg. nintendo consoles, where some reproduction parts are available (cartridges, screens etc.). With more niche and increasingly complex products this option is often not available.

The decade of work is starting to show for real. Many other tech companies have tried to break into new market “segments”, but often pull the plug after the product isn’t an instant hit. Valve had similar stumbles at first, but took what worked and tried to make that useful for as many people as possible.

Complete opposite of stadia, etc. which didn’t really amount to anything after the initial failure.

To me it seems that the same “carefulness” is being exercised in the counteroffensive. AFAIK majority of the reserves aren’t being used. Maybe the government is concerned about the repercussions that a failed counteroffensive could have in terms of the long term support from western countries. In such case they would have every reason to be conservative when doing maneuvers and letting information go public.

What I’m saying that in our world appearances matter (arguably too much), and Ukraine is stuck playing a game to keep foreigners happy. Also note that I have no merits for any of these thoughts and I’m pulling them out of my behind.

Low pay, bad working condition, no sense of accomplishment, hardly any upwards mobility. Why would I do that, if I have better options?

I kind of agree with the lack of career options for factory workers, but in many factory jobs there are several upsides.

For example many places allow you to listen to music/podcasts all day, while you are working. The work itself is often not mentally taxing and it doesn’t follow you home when you leave. Also there is no reason not to feel pride in being able to complete relatively complex tasks with care and speed.

At first glance this seems like a relic of an old system. Much like the clear split between officers and regular troops in the soviet/russian system. A system that is heavily controlled by few might seem like a safe option in comparison to the alternative, where where responsibility has to be distributed among many possible “points of failure”.

Some of it I can understand. The government of Ukraine seems very much afraid of loosing the mental image that western help is highly effective and more should be provided. Hiding tactical failures and other decisions that could be interpreted as incompetence, could be seen as an attempt to preserve that image.

It’s got some fluff, but it’s basically the same as any gpu in the last 15 years. First number for generation, second for comparing performance within the generation.

TBH this is nothing new. They already randomly restrict you from viewing any type of nsfw content on the mobile browser version. It prompts you to download the app with no option to close the prompt.