Tech enthusiast vs Crypto tycoon

[Psittac]

I find solace in the fact that all of my tech is now working for my benefit.  Until recently I have had several machines going unused and even my servers have been decommissioned.  All of this tech that has consumed my focus over the years is finally proving useful.  That's why I don't feel bad about buying an alienware prebuilt and putting it to work on eth or cranking on all of my gaming PC's 24/7.  I'm not the problem, I'm a byproduct of tech advancing.  Yes I have purchased a prebuilt solely for the gpu and I plan on buying a 2tb nvme tomorrow for chia, but I'm not part of the problem.  THIS is my focus in life, tech.  And if I can recoup some of the investment I have made over the years then more power to me.

 

The only argument that can be made against my trend, would be power consumption but my pat on the back is a monthly payment to wren.co  also the concept of power creation and distribution is far beyond an enthusiast's comprehension and influence.  I think that these ideas are best left to the extreme's in the field and a minor player should be able to run a swamp cooler and run gaming pc's and servers with no weight on their shoulders.

[tikker]

At the risk of this being bait, here's my take.

5 hours ago, Psittac said:

I find solace in the fact that all of my tech is now working for my benefit.  Until recently I have had several machines going unused and even my servers have been decommissioned.  All of this tech that has consumed my focus over the years is finally proving useful.  That's why I don't feel bad about buying an alienware prebuilt and putting it to work on eth or cranking on all of my gaming PC's 24/7.  I'm not the problem, I'm a byproduct of tech advancing.  Yes I have purchased a prebuilt solely for the gpu and I plan on buying a 2tb nvme tomorrow for chia, but I'm not part of the problem.  THIS is my focus in life, tech.  And if I can recoup some of the investment I have made over the years then more power to me.

Noone aside from crypto haters is saying you are the problem for just using your GPU to mine. First of all the mining boom is only a part of the problem. Huge demand, scalpers, miners, production issues, delivery problems, they all contribute. Secondly it isn't a black and white situation. You are free to do as you want, that's how we roll, but if you continuously buy up prebuilts for the sole sake of mining with it or ripping out the GPU to mine with it, then you are part of that problem.

 

Buying a single NVMe drive for Chia is also a ridiculous example. You will not be labeled the problem by buying a single drive. You will be if you buy up all stock and keep doing that just to fund your Chia mining operation. Constantly emphasizing you are not (part of) the problem indicates you feel either guilt or a need to justify participating. One can't play a holier than thou card here though. The gamer fanatics will do that because they see gaming as the destiny of a GPU, miner fanatics will do it from a my hardware my choice or I'm making money point of view and finally there's the I can do what I want card. Truth of the matter is: No group is inherently better than the other. We just want a black sheep.

 

5 hours ago, Psittac said:

The only argument that can be made against my trend, would be power consumption but my pat on the back is a monthly payment to wren.co  also the concept of power creation and distribution is far beyond an enthusiast's comprehension and influence.

You know what's better than a montly payment to wren.co? Not even emitting that CO2 in the first place. Such initiatives, while good (I'm not slamming them), fight symptoms and not the root issues. The root issue here is we are producing way to much CO2 and other greenhouse gases for our own good. You won't fix that by paying $10 a month to some  organisation that promises to plant trees. The fix is to find ways to reducte that emission in the first place (but we can do with more trees).

5 hours ago, Psittac said:

I think that these ideas are best left to the extreme's in the field and a minor player should be able to run a swamp cooler and run gaming pc's and servers with no weight on their shoulders.

It starts with one person, but now imagine everybody thinks it's fine to consume the power of an entire nation annually in their basement. My point of view is that the big changes do need to come from the big corporations. They are the worst offenders. However, we as individuals should also try to do a bit and not go about it willy nilly thinking "I'm just one person", because that's exactly how it goes wrong if everybody starts thinking that way.

[IkeaGnome]

I wouldn't worry about being labeled as part of the problem. If people are saying you're part of the problem because of that usage they obviously don't understand all of what's going on to cause shortages right now...

[RollinLower]

i mean, most crypto miners are tech enthusiasts anyway. you have to be at least a little bit into tech to understand how to mine.

[artuc]

It's not a problem, even the miners aren't the problem. It's human nature, can't blame the cogs that are just part of the machine...

 

To me the main blame is in those that created the demand or have done nothing about it.

 

1. PoW algorithms in the first place. There are alternatives like PoS, PoP/PoA etc.

2. PoW algorithms that work well with GPUs, ASICs are an issue too but are dedicated hardware not impacting on the PC market directly.

3. GPU manufacturer supply shortages

4. GPU manufacturers not limiting mining usefulness of cards or making compelling mining cards lines.

 

Also I am mining currently with my pre COVID GPU, but also have staked PoS coins that I believe are the future of crypto so I am indeed a flawed human.