When Chris Barber, who’s been in the computer business for a quarter-century, says he’s never seen anything like the AI boom, he’s not talking about its potential to transform the future. He means what it’s doing to hardware prices right now.
Barber runs “Cheaper Than a Geek,” a Baltimore-based outfit that helps small companies with IT. Memory upgrades are a popular service, but nowadays he’s advising people that it’s barely worth the cost. RAM chips that sold for $100 six months ago are an “insane” $300 now, so customers may be better off just buying a new computer. “Parts themselves ...