Companies pivoting to rent seeking is an awful trend.
Bleak.
Starting at $35 per month you too can rent an AI laptop that will fulfill HP’s every need.
e machines did this back in the 90’s/00’s to predictably failed results.
Everything old is new again…
The fine print is worse. If you cancel, you owe a fee equal to the rental price for the remainder of the year.
Not so distant future. Subscriptions on premium air… basic air includes toxins. Same for water. The fuckers that created the contamination are the ones selling the subscription. CAPITALISM!
7.HP AI Companion requires 32GB RAM for local processing.
WHAT THE FUCK
What is surprising about this? LLMs are giant memory consumers.
yea, i’m surprised, 32GB is goddamn ridiculous for anything, let alone for a shitty hp branded autocorrect
fuck AI, fuck HP, and fuck “laptop subscription”
the saddest thing is, people will sign up, if for no other reason than they have no other option
It’s not unlike leasing a car. It has its (tax) advantages.
Having said that, this is Needful Things level of deal.
They’ve exploited consumers to the point that they can’t even afford basic needs, but no worries, they’ll rent them back to you indefinitely.
This sounds like leasing renamed. Not unusual in the enterprise space.
mmmmm lets see here
for the pavillion 16…
$34.99 a month with no protection plans available and no option to buy out over time and requires a 650 credit score…
or $979.99 for a one off purchase with the ability to have a protection plan ontop of it (this same laptop is also on a sale via HP for 429$ if you use their financing system…)
I don’t see how this is helpful to the general consumer. The typical user doesn’t replace their laptop every year, and at the prices they give you end up breaking even around 2 years. You would need to be processing an upgrade at least every 2.3 years in order to make your money worth it. I’ve had the same laptop for 8+ years now. I don’t know anyone who had a laptop fail outside of accidental damage prior to the 2 year mark. Most system issues appear prior to the one year warranty end date if something was /going/ to happen.
I can see how this could be helpful for a company that has temp workers… but even then it’s not like the company couldn’t just re-provision the laptop and give it to the next person.
I could see this being more handy if accidental was included on it, but out of the current offerings it’s just not worth it for anyone.
I really wonder who would (basically) rent a laptop. You can get used ones so cheap.
*This does not seem aimed at business.
businesses used to rent computers all the time but im not sure how many do in this millenia.
This doesn’t seem aimed at businesses.
yeah just responding in general. If it was cheap enough I could see doing it but it would have to be quite a savings because I keep my stuff going for awhile. Figure the yearly cost could not be any higher than 20% new but the cost would either have to go down over time or they would need to swap out for a new one each year.
It’s still likely less hassle than amortising capital expenses for something that will likely be written off well before end of life and then needing to dispose of it. As a consumer of fire sale disposed laptops, renting shouldn’t be allowed.
My employer leases our computers for 3-5 years. I get a new model when my lease runs out. I don’t really mind the guaranteed refresh except having to move all my stuff over. I would be way more pissed if they moved to BYOD.
How is that laptop $3000?
The Epstein class of billionaires demand that all serfs enter subscription for living, if you do not comply your taxes will find someone willing to enforce it. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
These also come with a 5G subscription. Not saying it justifies the price, and I don’t know what that would cost separately. But some of these prices are less than the cost of an ISP plan.
