[Ti] Intel shows off 64-bit dual core processors for mobile, desktop, and servers

[Dennis Fazio]

--On August 24, 2005 12:33:01 PM -0400 John Griffin <jwegriffin at mac.com> 
wrote:

> Let’s face it, Intel is probably a couple of years behind IBM which  is
> huge with the advance of technology at the pace it is right now.

That's an entire generation in semiconductor technology and is just not 
possible.

IBM, Intel, AMD, and all the other semiconductor houses each have their share 
of the best scientists, engineers, system designers and technologies 
available. Under those conditions, there ain't no magic available that one of 
them has to put themselves a generation ahead of the competition. With a 
lucky break, one can get 6 months maybe. If one develops a breakthrough 
technology advance, the other guy develops another.

In the end, it all just about equals out. The microprocessors they make are 
about equal in performance averaged over a wide range of applications. One 
may be a somewhat better at this and that while the other is better at that 
and this. That's the only difference possible.

The Apple system designers and business strategists decided that the Intel 
technology roadmap and product forecasts were more akin to where they wanted 
their future to be than that available for the IBM PowerPC family. I think it 
was as simple as that.

IMHO, speculation about intentions with digital rights management, trusted 
computing or whatever is just a distractive side show. Apple designs their 
own computers and if they wanted to put hardware rights protection in, they 
could figure out a way to do it no matter which microprocessor they used.
-- 
Dennis Fazio
dfz at mac.com