You May Not Actually Own Your Next Computer - Here's Why

Almost everyone has a PC or laptop of some kind, but in the future, you might not own one anymore. According to Jeff Bezos, the idea of personal computers may not last much longer. In his 2024 interview, Bezos suggested that instead of buying computers, people may eventually rent computing power from the cloud. This prediction may sound unsettling, but it starts to make more sense when you look at what's happening in the hardware market. The global race towards AI superintelligence is going to make your next computer cost a lot more. As chipmakers prioritize supplying AI data centers, memory and storage prices are skyrocketing already.

AI has rapidly become the center of gravity for the tech industry. Companies such as Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Google are investing colossal amounts of money into massive data centers designed to train and run AI models. These systems rely on centralized, cloud-based infrastructure rather than the kind of hardware most people keep on their desks at home. As AI spreads into everyday tools, computing power is increasingly concentrated in the cloud. What Amazon's Jeff Bezos said might become the future.

Back in 2024, during an interview with the New York Times, the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, called the computing industry a thing of the past. According to him, the traditional computer, as we know it, is obsolete in the modern world. And that's not due to a single groundbreaking new technology, but because of how we access information. To illustrate this, Bezos invoked a historical metaphor. He recalled how he once visited an old brewery that had to build its own power generator back when public electric grids didn't exist. Just as those custom-built electric generators disappeared from history, Bezos argued that the same fate awaits computers. They would be replaced by shared, subscription-style computing in the cloud.

Bezos continued to explain that it makes no sense for everyone to own and maintain their own hardware. Especially in modern days, when cloud-based computing like Amazon Web Services can be bought "off the grid". His words, "That's not going to last... You're going to buy compute off the grid", resonated strongly in the tech community. And it's resonating even more today amid rising hardware costs and memory chip shortages.

Bezos didn't explicitly target commercial computer users in his original interview, but many started interpreting his remark as hints at a future where owning a PC might be less common. With music, video, and gaming moving from ownership to rental models, is it that hard to imagine computing would transition too? In fact, with cloud gaming, virtual desktops, and streaming computing already emerging, the transition is happening whether we admit it or not. It's the access, and not ownership, that will define the next era of personal technology.

Bezos' provocative suggestion that we might rent our computing power from the cloud rather than own it didn't come from the vacuum. In fact, it's taking shape on the factory floors and supply chain spreadsheets around the world. Shared AI infrastructure is making cloud computing attractive as it's driving up the cost of the physical computers. Across 2025 and into 2026, memory chips are becoming dramatically more expensive as AI data centers gobble up available supplies. AI is also increasing energy prices, making matters even worse.

If that's not enough, one of only three memory chip producers, Micron, recently announced it's quitting commercial production in favor of AI systems. Analysts expect the DRAM and high-bandwidth memory prices to increase more than 50% this year. The consequence is the cost going up for manufacturing PCs, laptops, and other computing devices. The manufacturers have no choice but to pass those costs onto buyers.

Nearly every major tech company is now reorganizing its strategies and business models around AI. They pour capital into centralized infrastructure rather than consumer hardware. AI is becoming embedded in productivity tools, creativity, and decision-making itself. It's only natural for computing to migrate to wherever it's cheaper and more scalable, such as on the cloud. And even if the AI bubble bursts, this shift may already be irreversible. So hold on to your old computers. You may need them one day soon if you still want to own one.