Comment by groundzeros2015
8 hours ago
Because a web page shouldn’t use 4 GB of ram, and the win is that each pointer can be half the size (better for memory and cache).
The real mistake is requiring pointer to be 64 bit when most programs don’t use it.
You sounds like the misattributed Bill Gates of 2026.
No? Most consumer desktops have 8 or 16 GB and phones less. You want to use more than half for a web page?
For reference 4 GB is 8x more than a ps3.
Game consoles are weird though, they have less RAM than contemporary PCs. Like PS3 and Xbox360 both had 512MB, while my iMac G5 had 1GB. Maybe cause the console's RAM is unified with the GPU, while the G5 only had 64-128MB VRAM.
Even before RAM got very expensive recently, it had already plateaued. Like 32 GB was still considered a lot for a PC and was about the same price as a decade prior.