Azure, AWS, GCP, DO as you noted all have viable alternatives, from IaaS to PaaS to SaaS.
Why run a web server when you can run an Azure Web Site? Why distribute servers around the world to serve as CDNs at POPs when you can put Cloudflare, Azure Front door, etc. etc. in front of it on the cheap?
Anyway, these small machines don't have a place in the modern server room. They don't fit in racks, they lack management features, expandability, replacement parts, warranty, and so on and so forth.
There is more to a server than "CPU goes faster". If a hypothetical server had the fastest CPU available but only provided a single NVMe interface (like many of these small PCs do), it'd be a poor candidate for a critical RDMBS, for example.
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Azure, AWS, GCP, DO as you noted all have viable alternatives, from IaaS to PaaS to SaaS.
Why run a web server when you can run an Azure Web Site? Why distribute servers around the world to serve as CDNs at POPs when you can put Cloudflare, Azure Front door, etc. etc. in front of it on the cheap?
Anyway, these small machines don't have a place in the modern server room. They don't fit in racks, they lack management features, expandability, replacement parts, warranty, and so on and so forth.
There is more to a server than "CPU goes faster". If a hypothetical server had the fastest CPU available but only provided a single NVMe interface (like many of these small PCs do), it'd be a poor candidate for a critical RDMBS, for example.