[gumby]

Back to the future: this was how computing worked back in the punch card days. Minicomputers and personal computers were supposed to liberate you from this tyranny: computing so cheap that you could have a whole computer to your self for a while!

[mikeash]

Somehow we've reached a point where a 2GHz, 2GB computer that fits in your pocket is only worth using as a terminal.

[reilly3000]

Apple is moving in the opposite direction with onboard-only face ID and ARKit.

[sinatra]

The global scale makes even that cheap computing become fairly expensive. So, it's only natural that we'll take punch card type ideas (at local scale) from the past and apply them at our global scale.

[segmondy]

We still have whole computers to ourselves. Those that wish to throw their money away renting can knock themselves out.

[Spooky23]

We have these things. It's even cheaper in most cases. :)