Well, where I live- I have to set heating to keep at least 18C for ~5-6 months of the year. So 50-100W extra from a graphic card will not spoil my life, winter or summer. It will actually reduce my gas bill by a few euros. And this topic is about RX580, which is a 175W TDP card, so examples of 400W, 600W or such do not apply at all. As sensible, I see value and user experience. Going for power efficiency 'just because it is better' is not sensible. Well, maybe, going for the best tech, not considering the price/performance, can be considered as an enthusiast thing. But to me- it has a different meaning. I'll give this example: for a space enthusiast, it should not matter, who gets to Mars first- Musk, BluOrigin or whoever else. Instead, he should mostly care about getting there as soon as possible. Now, in every field, tech development is faster, when there is competition. Supporting 'the best tech' in elitist way, not buying smaller competitor stuff even when it offers better user experience and price works against competion, and against tech advancement. In the end- it works even against power efficiency, when market gets stale and the wining party does not have reason to invest in better tech.
Consumerism != enthusiast.
It's quite common now-a-days to conflate the two as people have lost touch with the genuine nature of a lot of things.
Buying high end products doesn't make you an enthusiast.
Technology is a tool. Unless you're a consumer, you don't buy the 'best'... You buy what has the best value and per your needs.
Another thing mainstream technology consumers conflate. Builders of old bought the best because there was literally 100% gains or more each generation. We've hit the wall in many ways. What companies do at such times is market gimmicks and it shows.
A space enthusiast? There's that term again. We've already been to Mars.. Just not in the sexy way that charitans market the idea to people.
We've already been to the moon too. Musk isn't doing anything new.. Just re-marketing the old.. Hype
I'd expect a true 'space enthusiast' to know more about NASA and its history and all of the missions/satellites and research they've conducted on space than some new age hype of commercialized for profit companies that work off the shoulder of their legacy... But you see, mainstream vs. enthusiast.
Instead, he should mostly care about getting there as soon as possible.
NASA's already been there multiple times. If what you're referring to is a manned mission, that actually is not the priority. The priority would be the safety of the crew. Furthermore, since robots by and large can conduct far more work there than a human, it seems we've already solved the enthusiast problem w/ technology. Putting a human being there on an uninhabitable planet is pure hype and mainstream nonsense... Like i said, I'm noting a pattern.
I work in tech and know people at just about every company in tech. Innovation occurs via R&D. It is many times shelved and delayed in order to make more money. So, innovation has nothing to do w/ competition and everything to do w/ steady R&D. Whether or not that comes to market and how its packaged is a business case. There's years of R&D'd tech sitting on shelves awaiting biz dev to give it engineering ok... Why? Because they're busy milking profit off of tech that consumers are willing to buy when there is bad value. If people boycotted the Geforce 20 series for instance, I guarantee you prices would change.
Being an enthusiast has nothing to do w/ buying the latest and greatest. It has everything to do w/ the spirit/nature and foundation of a particular thing and your connectivity to it no matter what hardware you have. Mainstream ideology disagrees and its obvious to see the folly/absurdity in that. Tech innovates and progresses because there's money to be made in more efficient and faster computer hardware. It will always be this way no matter if someone is silly enough to pay double for the flagship or not. Profit could be cut in half and Nvidia would still be innovative. Look at what AMD did w/ far less... The only thing absurd profit margins profit are shareholders. If a company decided to stop innovating because of profit margin compression someone would simply replace them.
Consumerism != Enthusiast.
Less leddit/mainstream and more independent soul searching