> The spend prices most of the developing world out -- an programmer earning $10k per year can't pay for a $200/month Claude Max subscription..

No, but a computer earning $10k per year can probably afford a $200 used ThinkPad, install Linux on it, build code that helps someone, rent a cheap server from a good cloud provider, advertise their new SaaS on HN, and have it start pulling in enough revenue to pay for a $200 Claude Max subscription.

> It's the mainframe era all over again, where access to computing is gated by $$$.

It's still the internet era, where access to $$$ is gated by computing skill :)