Today I saw Intel announced their numbers and it wasn't pretty - but it's not the end of the world. People are speculating that Intel's announcement is a leading indicator of what's to come throughout the industry. I'm not so sure about that, but I am absolutely convinced that Intel is running hard, getting lean, and they have some amazing technology under the hood.
The question is, should Intel be able to dictate where their technology is sold and how it's implemented in order to maintain their revenues and margins? I mean if someone buys a chip from company A shouldn't they be able to install it on company B's motherboard and use company C's hard drive, and so forth? You'd think.
This little device that I hold in my hands is pretty nifty. It's Nvidia's new ION platform - a tiny PC featuring a new Intel processor and an Nvidia GPU. It's a wee little package, a PC that's capable of gaming among other things. Through Visual Computing you can get this baby to run some pretty intense applications and overall it's pretty amazing how well it works. Oh yes, I can play Call of Duty 4 on it fluidly using my new HP 25.5" display via HDMI.
Nvidia sent this to me awhile ago and I've been testing pretty much everything on it. The system is smaller than a standard CD Rom, and the motherboard consists of a small package which could be installed virtually anywhere.
The question is, should Intel be able to dictate where their technology is sold and how it's implemented in order to maintain their revenues and margins? I mean if someone buys a chip from company A shouldn't they be able to install it on company B's motherboard and use company C's hard drive, and so forth? You'd think.
This little device that I hold in my hands is pretty nifty. It's Nvidia's new ION platform - a tiny PC featuring a new Intel processor and an Nvidia GPU. It's a wee little package, a PC that's capable of gaming among other things. Through Visual Computing you can get this baby to run some pretty intense applications and overall it's pretty amazing how well it works. Oh yes, I can play Call of Duty 4 on it fluidly using my new HP 25.5" display via HDMI.
Nvidia sent this to me awhile ago and I've been testing pretty much everything on it. The system is smaller than a standard CD Rom, and the motherboard consists of a small package which could be installed virtually anywhere.
I'm thinking of using this thing in my 64 Impala SS resto-mod as the central computer for the vehicle - however it's far more capable than just a car PC.
This, my friends, is an example of where the future of computing may go. The large desktops are bound to change. For those of you who are tired of the big, power hungry, loud boxes I assure you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Besides our Firebird system which has been received with open arms from pretty much everyone we've shown it to, there will be others who follow our lead.
Now here's the thing I find most interesting about the Nvidia ION platform. It uses a processor that Intel probably never intended to go into such a solution. It uses the Intel's ultra low cost ATOM processor. Combine that with the Nvidia GPU and Visual Computing, and you can probably see why Intel may have an issue if this thing ever sees the light of day.
My guess is no one at Intel anticipated that an insanely low cost ATOM processor would ever be used in a platform outside of a low cost netbook in a corner of India or Brazil. They probably assumed that the ATOM wouldn't eat into their high margin high revenue generating business.
Could it though?
Of course I'm only speculating, but I'd be very surprised if Intel doesn't have something to say about this platform -- or maybe they'll embrace it and help advance such computing.
Yes, this really makes things interesting for 2009. I'm not sure we want to go down this road, but if we do - it should make for a very interesting outcome.
What do you guys think? Do you find this platform interesting? How much would a PC this small - and somewhat expansion limited - have to cost in order for you to buy it?
rs
www.rahulsood.com
Comments
