If it's cloud compute that would be otherwise unused, the business is not paying for the electricity or wear. And they specifically put it in terms of marginal cost - Yeah there'd be an improvement from reselling this idle compute instead, but just using the cycles that would otherwise have been wasted doesn't change the status quo.
In the sense that the company paying to reserve a certain quantity of computer time isn't the owner or operator of the machines providing it, and has paid for that time by the hour, or something?
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If it's cloud compute that would be otherwise unused, the business is not paying for the electricity or wear. And they specifically put it in terms of marginal cost - Yeah there'd be an improvement from reselling this idle compute instead, but just using the cycles that would otherwise have been wasted doesn't change the status quo.
In the sense that the company paying to reserve a certain quantity of computer time isn't the owner or operator of the machines providing it, and has paid for that time by the hour, or something?
Yes. Most cloud provider bill based on wall clock time rather than core time, so you don't get a discount for the machines being idle.
I see, so there is a marginal cost to the owner of the machines but not necessarily to a medium-term customer renting them.