My Biggest Expense of 2025 and I Don't Regret It

I can easily say that 2025 is the year that I have spent the most on material things, just simply because of how inflation works. Over time, the prices of goods increase, so even if we buy fewer things, we still have to spend more. There are also other factors that can affect this, such as supply and demand, but I think you can get the gist of it. With that said, among the things that I bought last year was my new computer, which I bought last March and has cost me about 1 ^1/2 month's worth of salary. But despite how costly it is, I do not have any regret about my purchase. As a matter of fact, I was actually glad that I had already purchased it last year, instead of doing it now, with how high the price of specific computer parts has become after I bought my computer.

Usually, I'm the type of person who would not replace my old stuff until it reached its end of life or the point where they no longer work, and I really took great care of my belongings so that they would last for a long time. That was especially the case with all the computers at home, since I work an I.T. that focuses on computer hardware. And I could say that our old family desktop would still work decently for at least another 3 years. But because of Microsoft's shitty decision of placing TMP on Windows 11, all processors made 9-10 years ago were now all just E-waste, unless you want to risk using Windows 10, with all of its security support ceased since October, or switch to Linux. Well, there are ways to bypass TMP, but given all the bloat that comes with Windows 11, I decided to let go of my old system and replace it with something much better.

In terms of build category, it falls within the mid-range and is good enough for my needs, doing a little image and video editing, and playing AAA games at a decent frame rate. I can also do multiple tasks at a time without experiencing any lag or slowing of the system. If I wanted to, I could also use it to run local A.I., which is more preferable since I do not need to send any of my information to A.I. companies.

Turns out that decision was for the best, because with all the tech giants' heavy push on A.I., prices of specific computer parts have significantly increased, particularly the GPU, RAM, and Storage, to at least double their price compared to last year, and which I think this will continue to increase in the future. Because A.I. companies need a lot of processing power and storage space in their data centers, so that people can continue generating their A.I. Slop Image and videos, until it has gathered enough training data to replace all of its labor force. Might as well burn the planet in the process, right? Cause all of these processing burns a lot of energy.

So, if I buy my computer with all the same parts today, I will now have to spend about 2^1/2 months of my salary, which is insane. In some cases, certain parts were not even available for purchase because, rather than sell these parts to regular consumers, manufacturers would rather sell them to A.I. companies at an inflated price, which they can certainly afford, unlike regular consumers.

So, in the question of whether I will be happy to buy a computer over and over again, the answer is no, especially with these inflated prices. I'm just glad that I do not have to worry about purchasing a new computer in the next few years, until the same issue knocks on my door. But I guess that's the price we have to pay when we let the A.I. cat out of the bag.

Thank you for reading my post, and see you in the next one!