[stinkytaco]

> Running on rented hardware is the equivalent of a traditional product company renting all of their factories.

Or a traditional business renting a storefront? Something that happens all the time. Even huge companies like Apple use OEMs. Samsung manufactured Apple chips for years despite putting up a direct competitor to apple in the Galaxy S.

Systems like this allow people who do not have capital to scale up. Just like developers build malls and lease space to retailers or OEMs build factories and lease them to companies to make equipment.