On the other hand, I expect this whole mess to propel technology way forward, especially the microchip market. Everyone can now see that there is extreme demand for it and what is compatibility and standardization good for.

You and a bunch of others, and now all the supermarkets are out of toilet paper.

Not really. I have a lot of musical equipment. The chips I have are relatively uncommon. Not toilet paper. I’ve only got enough to duplicate things and keep them running if need be. I suspect what I will have will last around end of my life. Enough to just keep things going.

I’m not a hoarder, I’ve kept my focus limited and goals clear.

But you’re an assumptive a*hat.

Guilty as charged. I was part joking, part serious. I've had to order more than immediately needed capacity a couple of times in my life to tide over expected difficulties in getting timely equipment. Either managers who were slow at approving things or (today) expected shipping delays meaning I need enough capacity for the expected next year rather than expected next 2 months. Multiply that by everyone, you get a rush on the bank.

Interestingly I saw an analysis a while back (citation not provided because I'm about to go sleep and have an early start tomorrow) that just the change in demand from office to home could account for a lot of the increased toilet paper demand. People were still shitting the same amount but they were using home-grade rolls rather than industrial giant office rolls, of which there was a glut!

Alrighty. Well, I just remember last years run on toilet paper. It was a “why?”, people buying much more than needed. I don’t wanna be one of them.

I still say “stock up” though at least for what you can actually plan to use. Just like the above with toilet paper, supply-chains are going funky.