[adamlindsay]

An AWS micro is designed for burstable CPU loads, i.e. Websites. Performing a CPU intensive task will never do well. Amazon even says this in their own documentation.

The second fault I have is that articles like this, is that they only every look at the OnDemand price, which most people using AWS seriously don't pay. AWS has reserved pricing and spot both of which will dramatically drop the pricing. Maybe not as inexpensively as Joyent, but much much closer.