> on cheap hardware is just as good as the value you get from paying $200 to Anthropic

Not just as good. I’ve never said just as good. what i will stand by is good enough. What you can get for $600 is good enough to be useful for building software. Since paying anthropic/openai money to continue their sociopathic mission is a hard no-go for me, i’m just very glad there’s another option that passes “good enough* bar.