On the other hand, laptop is a 2011 model and I'm not allowed to upgrade until next year. My desktop has a "huge" 1 TB drive in it that I had to get my manager to approve, because Amazon apparently doesn't work with large datasets, and the desktop is just barely creaking along.

And I know what you're thinking. "Well your stuff is old, so you could obviously go in and get an upgrade!" Nope, went in the other day, literally, and was told I had to wait another year.

Frugality is absolutely widely misapplied at Amazon. Nearly every developer I've met that has been at Amazon for more than a year is dissatisfied with the hardware policy.