[tomnipotent]

I would posit that they're a single component for most consumers and buyers, and that a small majority will upgrade any single one of these three components in the lifespan of their computer. A quick check of r/buildapc reinforces this to be the case, as most posts are either full-system builds or peripheral upgrades (GPU, SSD).

My guess is that Framework had a unique opportunity with the AMD Ryzen AI and decided to capitalize on it to serve a fast-and-growing home market for this class of hardware, and the soldered LPDDR was a compromise considering the requirements of the CPU. If I had to choose between them offering this product with that restriction, or "sticking to their core values" and waiting for an alternative solution then I'm going to learn to live with the restriction. If the traffic queue wasn't just marketing BS, I assume many other people are also willing to live with it.

I want Framework to be a long-term successful company and that means making good use of their cash, and this gives them a safer opportunity to test a new product category. Maybe the result of this decision is an expansion of the category to include more modular options, at which point everyone wins.

[fragmede]

For most consumers, existing manufacturers cover their use case. There's already a number of existing standards for modular desktop computers chassis. Framework is especially interesting to that small section of the market that isn't most consumers. Framework could pivot and sell vacuum thermos cups for all it really matters as a corporation that exists to make money for its investors. If they sell out, and modular laptops and reducing ewaste is no longer their goal, and it was all just a cash grab, that's fine too. I don't work there, it doesn't really make any difference to me, they can do whatever they want, but at the same time I feel let down.