I can't recall software being conspicuous consumption until the advent of the AI token. Maybe the first "I am rich" app in the app store for $999.

johnfn 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

Pretty sure Joel Spolsky said “we purchase the best machines money can buy for our developers” like 20 years ago. So it’s hardly a new concept.

Not sure why that counts. An engineering workshop buying mint quality lathes would just be considered "Buy once, cry once" in my eyes.

Lathe sure. But what about shiny macbook pro to ssh into aws

	▲	trymas 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		eh, compared to salaries even shiniest macs wouldn't register in USA, especially hubs like SV. Especially if it's issued once a couple or four years. With AI spend - especially at Anthropic/OpenAI API prices - spending 0.5-1 macbook a month worth of tokens per employee seems normal (from what I've seen, heard, what happens in this forum and thread and what my employer does). Tokenmaxxxing (followed by commit/PR-maxxxing) is celebrated. Don't think - just launch orchestrator that will create dozen child agent sessions to do useless work to impress your superiors. If buy the end of the day you will ask to increase your token allowance - you're a superhero.

raincole 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> machines

That's hardware.

fantasizr 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I personally recall hardware flexing going back to SGI, but nothing like "look at my salesforce spend".

ASalazarMX 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I've seen the other side of that coin: "my program is blazing fast in my machine, I don't know why those naggy users are complaining!"

	▲	fantasizr 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		Getting your app to run on the worst devices was artistry. Assuming the lowest IE and windows environment.

asdff 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Hardware for sure. Big statement giving the entire company macs vs pc. Apple spelled it out in those ads.

itishappy 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

AWS spend and other service bills?

My take was when people would post those large bills it was mostly to complain about Amazon or a process having gone wild for comedic purposes.

	▲	itishappy 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		My take is that disclosures like these are always humble brags and/or marketting (look at how much I can afford to spend) with minor complaints rolled in to disguise this fact. > “It’s too expensive right now,” he said, adding that he knows the amount of money he spends on AI agents is “a crazy privilege that not everyone can do.”

maxbond 6 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Superchats and other livestream gifts

	▲	fantasizr 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		Agree I meant mostly in the vein of "look how much I can spend on XYZ because I'm rich and I can" with questionable value.

addaon 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

> I can't recall software being conspicuous consumption