Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2014 August 3

= August 3 =

Would someone PLEASE explain the latest RAM prices?
http://pcpartpicker.com/parts/memory/#sort=a6

That is outrageous. I remember the RAM being less than $5/GB a few times, just the other year.

I notice there seems to be a climbing trend. I thought the price-performance of computer hardware keeps improving.

Why have we hit a wall on RAM price-performance? Why wouldn't any media outlet report on this wall-hitting for RAM?

If this wall is temporary, and will be brought down so the RAM price-performance would improve again, how will this wall be temporary? And how do we know that the answer wouldn't be a form of wishful thinking? --Shultz the Editor (talk) 11:08, 3 August 2014 (UTC)
 * I don't know what you're saying with all that talk about price/performance (are we talking about high speed RAM or what?) but RAM prices are well known to be extremely volatile (pun not really intended). Usually what happens is manufacturers overestimate the size of the future market or otherwise oversupply and there's a glut of RAM and prices drop. They then reduce production and prices rise. There's strong suggestion of possible illegal collusion (i.e. price fixing) and there has been a case before DRAM price fixing but it's not exactly a new thing or unexpected for anyone with even a tiny bit of experience with the market, so I'm not sure why you're so worked up about it. And it's not like DRAM prices aren't falling overall.
 * Frankly, if I were you I'd be much more worried about hard disk prices. While they seem to have recovered from the controversial massive rise allegedly due to the Thailand flooding, the fact remains density increases have slowed and from what I've read, it's not really clear what will work for mass market products since PMR seems to be reaching its limits. Shingled magnetic recording seems to be shipping now, but it seems nlikely it's going to work for anyone but some data centres and it's not really clear whether it will work for all of them. Helium allows more platters, but the long term future of such drives seems unclear and it's likely only a brief jump anyway. Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording is probably the most promising for mass market consumer drives, but who knows how well it's going to work.
 * Of course if you're really so hopeful of the cloud future, may be you don't care, but if do think you'll prefer to have access to your own content and not have to get it from someone else every time, it may be a concern. Particularly with the rise of QHD and may be HFR meaning bigger files. And in any case, although cloud storage may have more options like SMR, a lack of density increases is obviously going to affect them so it will affect you too.
 * Nil Einne (talk) 11:31, 3 August 2014 (UTC)


 * ILSoYIA. :-) StuRat (talk) 13:06, 3 August 2014 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, taSMRrtdmSMR.
 * Well, TANSTAAFL. - ¡Ouch! (hurt me / more pain) 06:39, 4 August 2014 (UTC)


 * When I got my first computer, a GB cost over $8,000,000 (in 1981 US dollars). See this. Bubba73 You talkin' to me? 02:04, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

Mysql
Why does "use " not require a semicolon?24.125.223.117 (talk) 14:33, 3 August 2014 (UTC)
 * Because it's not an SQL command. You cannot use it in normal SQL queries, but only in the MySQL command line client. The library that are used by programs to communicate with a MySQL server has a special function for selecting the database, it doesn't use the function for SQL queries. Of course, this only explains why USE can be treated in a special way, but not why it actually is. --87.182.201.254 (talk) 18:22, 3 August 2014 (UTC)