AI is eating cheap hardware, and old gear gets a second life
The Verge reported that DDR4 is making a comeback, and the top comment framed it bluntly: AI stratifies haves and have-nots, and the have-nots' tech can literally regress. Alongside it, LineageOS 24.0 shipped with Pixel 4a support, and commenters credit it with keeping their OnePlus 6T and old Pixels alive. PSPi 6 puts a Raspberry Pi inside a PSP.
The through-line is scarcity and reuse. As AI demand pulls memory and chips toward data centers, older parts and older devices become the practical choice for everyone else. Software projects that extend hardware life, and hobbyists who repurpose it, gain relevance.
One commenter pointed out Android's weak story for on-device inference compared to iOS, so the reuse trend has limits when AI workloads are involved.
So what?
Don't assume that hardware gets cheaper and better every year. Build products that run acceptably on older devices and older memory standards, because your customers may be stuck with them. Software that lets people keep what they own is a quiet but growing market.