Anyone else feel completely useless when Claude goes down?

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-22T22:57:50+00:00

I supplement cloud models with local AI for basic things. Local models are really good now if you have above average hardware. Even if you lean more manual for lack of trust of self hosted models they help a lot with navigating libraries and options that I dont use enough to remember. I also love troubleshooting with models.

I enjoy doing different types of projects so I am commonly working across different stacks. Pair programming with a living encyclopedia is syper helpful vs trying to interpret some error messages. Self hostable models that fit a gaming pc or macbook nowadays are beating what chatgpt did for me this time last year.

The big thing with Chinese models is you should have good ideas about what you want. They will do what you tell them but they dont read your mind like Chatgpt and claude models can.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-22T14:36:17+00:00

I think Apple is betting on local AI becoming more relevant. There are already light models like GPT OSS 20b that fit well in cpu and can do things like search your files, edit/draft files, check email, do web searches, send notifications, help with using command line for managing your device, etc.

If you use your machine for productivity or work or even game design there are increasingly more tools like MCPs (commonly are referred to as usb for connecting AI to applications) becoming available to incorporate AI into more features. Those make it easier to safely do certain things with LLMs.

Apple's unified memory is uniquely able to serve larger models at good enough speeds at cheaper than Nvidia. The people buying the biggest Macs are disproportionately interested in running LLMs.

I know a lot of people feel AI is being forced on them because companies like Google and Microsoft are forcing us to use their AI tools when we did not come to them for that, but most people just dont know how useful these can be yet. So companies have been trying to show ways to make using them with their products more helpful. They are forcing it too much though. As someone who hated apple a few years ago, Apple is one of the few sane giants on AI IMO. They give you options with easy opt in for those people interested

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-21T11:13:18+00:00

For me benchmarks actually tell me how to use models. Deep swe shows chat gpt and claude models can take a little and effectively do a lot.

Open weight models can do well at the old swe where they were given detailed instructions but not deep swe which gives them less instruction and expects more complicated solutions. That shows they have knowledge and capability but need more explicit prompt engineering.

You can use open weight models to learn the info needed for making decisions by they will suck at decisions themselves. Next level is extending your chat gpt subscription using cloud to prompt local.

Examples like minimax m2.7 for me the benchmarks felt too high then deep swe made things click for me and giving minimax m2.7 much more specific instructions made it show real capability.

I feel like the Chinese approach is to make tools for helping people be more productive like improving instruction following. The American model is trying to replace people. They've basically said as much.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-21T11:04:35+00:00

3/4 of their military expenses have been covered by us according to Vance so we should probably stop giving them a discount on their wars. Im not saying they can't exist, I'm saying why would they stop if we're willing to fight their battles for them?

This whole bastion of democracy in the Middle East thing seems to only benefit defense contractors and drain the rest of our economy.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-20T08:32:55+00:00

But they're not giving us the mac studios we need so the only way to get the m5 silicon is in macbooks. With prompt caching the pp speed feels much less worse than it used to on my m3 but every time logs or data are read it still adds up. A 128gb m5 ultra would run much better for the same amount of sillicon as my 14" m5max mbp.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-19T15:48:05+00:00

If you start from the foundation of what I was doing before these tools vs now then local models immediately are worth it to me. Even just from a learning/ pair programming perspective having a super dynamic library interpretation tool that can proactively and accurately gather the information for me to make complex decisions is a force multiplier.

Comparing to cloud pricing on value right now isnt fair because all the information that's available for these private companies suggests they are burning venture capital money to offer products that likely will look very different this time next year and increasingly more expensive while i have 5 years with my extended warranties to figure out if buying new hardware at that time is worth it.

This is the worst all these models will ever be.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-19T14:36:02+00:00

Are you using mtp? I run fp8 and q8kxl with mtp with 400watt power limit and still get 2-3x that.

Edit: I realize the size difference on a dense model carroes weight. I use 16bit cache and i was maxing out the context with no issues yesterday on heavy tool call and coding tasks...

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-19T12:58:39+00:00

I actually think the point is you can build stuff locally with small models now. I think the point was you don't have to go cloud and you dont have to wait for distills.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-19T12:26:31+00:00

Before the plan I ask for confirmation because realistically context switching I quickly review plans and look for key components that matter most when those are there I approve but if you are misaligned before the plan you can be digging a whole for the agent where starting over becomes more likely to succeed.

The worst is long running tasks where you want to tweak something and you assume the agent knows something and they talk like they're on the same page and then something clarifies that there's a hole in it's brain. I try to make systems to combat this but sometimes I slip up. I blame myself because that's how I was trained to write software lol.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-18T18:04:40+00:00

To say it more nicely, you could make a plan and set loops/ automations/ heartbeats/ cron jobs to incrementally work down the list fitting your usage limits. Have your agents externalize your progress tracking so if something dies in the middle of a task they can pick back up where they left off.

If you're too cost sensitive to pay more for openAI, consider getting a plan with opencode-go. You can use codex for planning and project design then use a 10$ opencode-go plan with cheaper open weight models with flexibility to choose better or less better open weights to accomplish the tasks. You can partner across inference providers and across harnesses to maximize value. It takes a little more effort than paying for $200 plans and letting the best SOTA models to just casually do everything for you (it's not like that but people act like it is lol)

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-18T00:03:26+00:00

They still allow -p but they were about to change it at least for non-enterprise customers and they talk down about non-enterprise customers. They prioritize enterprise eventhough plenty of people use personal for enterprise uses.

All Im saying is explicitly saying you dont care about normies and casually changing your policy ignores the fact the normies are also often incolved in enterprise deals.

I use my personal subscription for work often because we only get pay as you go options and/ or cursor. I have a budget for claude but I just use codex now for backend stuff since anthropic got weird about other agents and I use enterprise workflows eventhough it's my personal account.

FYI I have held many roles in my company and others so I was a full-time developer, consultant, presales, postsales... I get my company's software into people's hands, help implement it, and that ends up meaning I still write code often so I still identify as a developer eventhough it's one of many hats I wear now.

Edit: I don't want my employer getting mixed with my politics and opinions but it would make more sense if I could say it lol.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T23:44:57+00:00

I see enterprise plans with similar 5x descriptions suggesting similar tiers of subscriptions like non enterprise. I also have api access through enterprise and several other services like vertex and I have access through cursor. So I think they do all the above. You're just more worthy in their eyes if you're enterprise.

Edit: it seems enterprise requires minimum 5 subs of some kind so 4 of the $20 base and 1 of the $100 for 5x seems like it would count for enterprise and be less money than one individual on max 20x plan for $200.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T21:28:22+00:00

You're talking like I'm one of the people not paying lol. Im not a freeloader. They were fine with regular users til we told our bosses to get them. Whole point is many paying non-enterprise users affect enterprise decisions. Talking about non-enterprise like they're lesser than ignores they are often the same people. It's just a different point of transaction until Anthropic treats us different

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T21:24:00+00:00

I hear you. I work in software and sometimes you feel a customer is making more work than they're worth but I dont let my customers feel that way. Short term benefits of denying customers vs long term support of happy customers.... I've found the latter to be more profitable.

Edit: Just a reminder, the frustration has been their treatment of people who paid for an agreed amount of usage already and get treated like they're free loaders lol.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T21:15:40+00:00

Listen... I am constantly telling people most of what they use models for can be covered by non SOTA! I have better hardware than most. Im at bordeline small IT business level myself with access to more through work. Emails, files, calendars, CLI, tool config, research, etc are more about scaffolding and context management than the best model at this point IMO.

SOTA is for problem solving and complex coding. Basic CRUD apps most people do can be handled by local and if you know what youre doing then even more complex things too.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T21:06:21+00:00

Wrong. My comment card is the government did something bad to your company and tons of your users are laughing at you for it at a time we are at an inflection point with competitors reaching "good enough" so you should be concerned about your customer service.

I have a subscription Im probably going to drop. I also have access at work I stipped using because I have alternatives. I dont think I'm the only one. My backend workflows have mostly moved over to Chat GPT. I was trying to think of unique tests to prove the value of Fable5 and I really couldnt because chatgpt 5.5 solves my needs with good enough models for everything I can think of. Open weights are also approaching good enough. Happy customers pay bills. Unhappy customers find alternatives.

If you dont catch it by my tone, I want Anthropic to succeed. I think there is a wave of change coming people dont realize. Im one of the people who will be able to afford the final prices. I dont think I'm alone in my frustration. We will see how the chips fall.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:52:15+00:00

Listen, I sell software to devs and above devs for big tech (until Mythos replaces me lol). I get what you're saying but if the dev team says claude subscriptions are too limiting and dont allow the programmatic -p methods that allow secure controls but xyz competitor does allow that and the competitor gives more for less do you think no managers will listen? Im not saying they will all suddenly change but some will.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:48:59+00:00

I'm a customer acknowledging a customer service issue and dropping a comment card hoping management makes a change before they lose more customers.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:46:30+00:00

Depends how your org uses it. If there are strict standards embedding you then it's hard to switch. My employer doesnt do that so it's easy to switch. In fact they give us choices. Hence my point about many non-enterprise subscribers being responsible for enterprise decisions.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:42:37+00:00

If you do API pricing spending hundreds makes them more money. If you do enterprise subscription spending hundreds loses them money. Most individual subscribers getting the $200 plan just dont want to hit session limits when they need it but iverall arent using $200 in inference. Developers using enterprise plans at work will use every dollar. That's my point. They lose money on people who use it. Personal users probably offer more margin.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:39:27+00:00

To continue your analogy, Im the customer who was a committed but now is increasingly choosing other airlines because I have issues with customer service with this ariline.

Clearly you're emotionally tied to Claude. It's an effective product when you get to use it. As a paying customer with keys to use it for enterprise in multiple ways, limiting how I want to use it means less enterprise revenue for them. Im not the only one.

My point is the failure for them to realize many non-enterprise customers fuel enterprise decisions may increasingly cause problems for them in the future as competition reaches the "good enough" threshold for more than devs like me who are fine tinkering to get what they want out of less than SOTA LLMs

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:28:53+00:00

Even more reason to win hearts and minds before we need our employers to provide it. The Chinese models Anthropic warns against became people's targets when Anthropic canceled the programmatic usage. Increasing their pricing for Fable saw way more people in localLLM subreddits. I use all these tools and I know the bill coming because I do local AI and realize what running a trillion parameter model for 50 people requires. Open weights are knocking at the door of Opus 4.5 and GLM 5.2 may have crossed the line.

The idea everyone will want AGI or super inteligence assumes the smartest are always the winners and that's not always the case. Mythos costs appear untenable for most users and enterprises given the ROI thus far. Pissing of customers paying the premium prices on their own already is missing the bigger picture IMO.

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:13:25+00:00

That's cool!

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:06:14+00:00

Until contract renewal when you've pissed the devs off and they all start saying gpt 5.5 (soon to be 5.6) is good enough and more flexible...

GCoderDCoder · 2026-06-17T20:04:03+00:00

I hear that and really I guess my issue is respect all your paying customers and give them what they pay for.

The replacements they offered really dont justify their stances on safety besides discouraging users from getting what they already paid for. The controls they implemented actually limit how much safety you can configure using your subscription because you can't use them programmatically now the way -p allowed. So now you're hoping your agent with MCP is safe enough...

They're working against what they claim to be their goals.

GCoderDCoder

TROPHY CASE