This is the "Wait Calculation" and it's fiendish because there exists only some small, finite window in which it is indeed better to start before the tech is "better" in order to "win" (i.e. get "there" first, wherever "there" is in your scenario).

Here's a nice article about it: https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/the-lazy-tyranny-of-the-wai...

Tax AI.

> eventually shaping the future standards of the web and making it de facto impossible to self-host anything

Eventually?

> He doesnt touch on the shame of it you feel

This is the part people who have never experienced it most overlook. The profound, lived-in shame that comes with being poor, and the damage that does over time.

Only up to their quality limit though. This is a slightly different concept to a quantity limit (which also exists), but the general (imperfect) idea is that for your "quality level" (i.e. your ability ceiling), the only real knob you can dial is quantity. In practice, quantity seems to be a defining factor for pushing your ability ceiling higher.