PC hardware as service? That’s gonna be a hard no from me, dawg

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I like to own things. The recent AMD driver kerfuffle has got me wondering what that really means these days.

I'm old enough to remember that buying a physical item meant you'd have it for life. It will work as advertised until it stops working – perhaps a part breaks or the motor burns out. Even then things were mechanical enough that you could open them up and try to fix them.

Now that so much software is required to make hardware perform its intended functions, that line has become blurred. We depend on companies to keep our products running. We are expected to trust that the company will support the product for a reasonable period of time.

AMD's confusing messaging about driver support for RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 graphics cards has undermined that trust. At first it seemed like the GPUs were only three years old I'm already getting an ax—Team Red will no longer provide updated drivers for new game optimizations. Then, after this position was seemingly confirmed by AMD's press statements (causing even more furor), AMD has finally released a clarification via blog post. Drivers will be forked, but basic support for first and second generation RDNA will not end yet.

The Full Nerd team and I discuss the entire episode in more detail in the series, including the nuances of the situation. Obviously, the reputation of AMD's Radeon division plays a role in all of this, as does the current situation with GPU pricing and availability. But even after this PR problem is resolved, the fundamental problem remains.

Companies can now destroy their products at any time, even if they are in your hands. Once the software support stops, it's all over. I have a drawer full of phones that Google and Apple no longer issue security patches for. Older Chromebooks got the same bad deal.

You might argue that technically you still can use these products, and of course it's true. But in today's environment, the lack of security updates is a headache. Lack of driver support for new games means you won't be able to play them. Etc.

I'm grateful that people are spending their time on alternative software like LineageOS and Linux to keep great-to-use hardware running. (I'm going to try this to breathe new life into a beloved, no longer supported Chromebook.) But that doesn't change the fact that we're at the mercy of companies' willingness to support a product, or even an entire product line. And I hate it.

I'm ready to subscribe to software as a service. I think of it as renting tools. But my equipment? I bought it because of its known properties. I bought it because of its features. I bought it so it can continue to do what I need it to do. If it stops working because the software is gone, what do I really own then?

In this episode of The Full Nerd

IN this episode of The Full NerdAdam Patrick Murray, Brad Chakos, Alaina Yee, and Will Smith share their feelings about the weekend's RDNA 1 and 2 driver support failure and how many Windows PC games now run on Linux. As for AMD, Brad is saying what he thinks AMD wanted to say but couldn't. Meanwhile, I'm concerned about chart interpretations and headlines. I don't hate Linux, just an implied conclusion from the article.

Oh, and I'll show everyone my latest fashion acquisition. Is it fashionable? No. Am I happy that I had a good reason to buy AMD brand socks? I think so. (Very yes.)

(Full disclosure: the socks were a gift from one Adam Patrick Murray. I have a whole collection of socks from various tech brands from him, probably because I've talked about buying socks on Black Friday so often over the years.)

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Exciting news for nerds this week

AMD's Radeon hype makes everything else seem relatively quiet, despite being noteworthy. Firstly, AMD processors helped the company set new records. And I was very fascinated by not one, but two different stories about robot vacuum cleaners.

Also, I realized that I haven't been able to properly sound the alarm when giving buying advice in the last week or so. Prices for some components have already been affected, and the situation has gotten worse so quickly. (Hopefully you won't need more memory anytime soon.)

• Proving your point: Unlike Radeon, AMD's Ryzen processors have remained stable, propelling Team Red to greater and greater heights, with desktop processor share up nearly 10 percentage points since 2024, according to CEO Dr. Lisa Su.

• This is some kind of bull$*(%: Not engineering solutions to restart the operation of the robot vacuum cleaner, but the manufacturer’s decision to remotely block the device. (This is also why we use guest networks for IoT devices.)

• Category: “When asked if they can, not if they should”: Look, I'm also guilty of doing something just to see if it's possible. I was still laughing at the idea of ​​shrinking an operating system so small that it would be unusable.

• Science + efficiency = I click: Are people inventing more efficient ways to handle (and reuse) the materials they create? Sounds good to me.

• How far has the Internet come?: From data disappearing causing typos to memes that load in seconds. (I can't say that we used the improvements to achieve the best effect, but we'll talk about that another time.)

• Enjoy your solitude, beautiful Venus.: The loss of the last remaining companion is sad for us. However, I tell myself that the planet named after the goddess of love probably needs a little break from prying eyes.

• I really want to know about the 5% of people who fail.: Were they distracted during Butter Bench? Was their native language different from how the benchmark test was administered? Did they just not care? And yes, I was a little annoyed by the internal glitch of this robot vacuum cleaner. We've all been there, mate.

• I needed this 15 years ago: Black and white mode for Google Maps that will extend the battery life of a dying phone? Better late than never, I think. (Although this is not officially possible yet.)

• Oops, that hurt faster than expected.: Memory prices have risen sharply, and this applies not only to DDR4. If you need more RAM right now, prepare for a 100 percent (or more) price increase. I don't think Black Friday will save us from this.

I have a secret: I'm apparently one of those single people who loves the “return” to standard time in the US. Early dark evenings make stews and soups ideal. (Be sure to share your favorite recipes with me on The Full Nerd Discord. #food chat channel.)

See you all next week!

~Alaina

This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Gordon Mah Ungfounder and host of The Full Nerd, and executive hardware editor at PCWorld.