Comment by zephen

> Reality: embedded systems are a thing.

I've worked in embedded, and chips, and embedded chips for most of my career.

> There's maaaany applications where some (fixed) amount of compute does the job, and the simplest/cheapest device that does it wins out.

There's usually quite a bit factored in for slop in these days, because time-to-market is a thing. There's also sometimes a cost-reduction stage (yeah, I've been involved in cost reductions where a penny a unit was awesome), but you don't bother doing the cost-reduction phase unless you have the volume to support it.

Warren Buffet famously said that "Concentration builds wealth, diversification preserves it."

In much of computing, even embedded, demos and prototypes build a product, and the right-sizing of everything to make it even more profitable happens later, if it is worth it.