I share your concern. Based on my admittedly loose understanding, although the Spectre vulnerability is "more difficult" to exploit, I suspect it's a matter of time before exploits become more common. And the Spectre vulnerability is the one that requires a BIOS/firmware update.

So that's a bit alarming for me since at least one of my several workstations is using a 5+ year old desktop board (an Intel board, ironically) that has been end-of-lifed according to its BIOS downloads support page. Meanwhile, some of the bigger server motherboard vendors (e.g., SuperMicro) are not yet prepared to supply firmware updates for recent motherboards.

Recognizing that the operating system vendors/maintainers are not responsible for our systems' BIOS and hardware, the flippant advice to "talk with your device's vendor" gives me a sinking feeling. (E.g., Microsoft: "Consult with the device manufacturer about the firmware version that has the appropriate update for your CPU.") As a technical person, I am going to find it difficult to bring all of my hardware—especially the older hardware—up to snuff for coping with these vulnerabilities. I fear for people who are less technically inclined.