TL;DR
Memory prices have surged amid growing datacenter demand, prompting an opinion push for developers to cut back on software bloat. The author argues for re-evaluating toolchains, trimming frameworks, and rewarding compactness in code and builds.
What happened
An opinion piece argues that the recent spike in memory costs — driven in part by intensified datacenter and AI hardware purchases — should prompt engineers and managers to confront entrenched software bloat. The column compares modern utilities that demand tens of megabytes just to report memory use with earlier programs that ran in kilobytes, and urges teams to ask whether large frameworks are truly necessary for simple functionality. Citing signs of price pressure across the component market, the author calls for a cultural shift: rethink toolchains, measure runtime and storage footprints, and incentivize compactness in both shipped binaries and active memory use. The piece frames this as a systemic change rather than a quick fix, noting that reversing decades of growth in application size will require deliberate effort from developers and organizational support from managers.
Why it matters
- Higher memory costs increase hardware and server expenses for companies and cloud providers.
- Continued unchecked growth in application footprints drives up operational and energy costs.
- Rethinking frameworks and toolchains could reduce resource demand across data centers and devices.
- Managers allocating time and incentives for efficiency work may be needed to change engineering priorities.
Key facts
- The opinion links recent memory-price increases to greater demand from datacenter and AI deployments.
- Author contrasts modern utilities that use tens of megabytes at runtime with early programs that occupied kilobytes on disk.
- Examples of industry reporting cited include claims of server-price rises and large memory-price jumps from suppliers.
- The column urges developers to question whether heavy frameworks are necessary for relatively simple tasks.
- It recommends that toolchains be evaluated not only for functionality but also for their memory and storage efficiency.
- Changing decades-long trends in software size is presented as a multi-year cultural and technical challenge.
- Managers are encouraged to create the space and incentives for engineering teams to pursue compactness.
What to watch next
- Ongoing trajectory of memory prices and any official industry data on supply and demand.
- Whether development teams and companies begin prioritizing smaller runtimes and slimmer frameworks (not confirmed in the source).
- Adoption of metrics, rewards, or tooling that explicitly measure and incentivize memory and binary compactness (not confirmed in the source).
Quick glossary
- RAM (memory): Volatile system memory used by applications and the operating system to store data that is actively being used.
- Software bloat: The tendency for applications and frameworks to grow in size and resource demands without proportional gains in functionality.
- Toolchain: The collection of compilers, libraries, build systems, and other tools used to develop, build, and package software.
- Datacenter: A facility housing servers and networking equipment used to run large-scale computing workloads and services.
- AI boom: The recent period of rapid investment and deployment of hardware and software resources to support large-scale artificial intelligence workloads.
Reader FAQ
Are memory prices actually rising?
The piece reports that memory prices have surged recently, linked to increased datacenter and AI demand.
What practical steps does the author suggest?
Re-evaluate frameworks and toolchains for necessity and efficiency, measure footprints at rest and runtime, and reward compactness.
Will software bloat be reversed quickly?
The author argues it will not happen overnight and calls for a sustained change in thinking and incentives.
Will hardware makers lower prices soon?
Not confirmed in the source.
SOFTWARE 111 Memory is running out, and so are excuses for software bloat Maybe the answer to soaring RAM prices is to use less of it Richard Speed Tue 23 Dec 2025 //…
Sources
- Memory is running out, and so are excuses for software bloat
- Tech prices rising due to memory shortage driven by …
- EMD: Fair and Efficient Dynamic Memory De-bloating of …
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