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Re: Intel Scared of Microsoft, Fear Affects Linux Adoption

Roy Schestowitz <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
> __/ [ nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ] on Wednesday 18 April 2007 14:43 \__
> 
>> On Apr 18, 5:58 am, Roy Schestowitz <newsgro...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>> Intel Seen Using China Forum to Detail Plans on Hand-Helds
>>>
>>> ,----[ Quote ]
>>> | That software effort does not have the support of Mr. Otellini, who
>>> | is concerned about incurring Microsoft's wrath, the executive said.
>>> | The two companies have a long history of tension over who controls
>>> | the hardware and software direction of the "Wintel standard." Intel
>>> | has said it is supporting both operating systems.
>>> `----
>>>
>>> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/technology/16chip.html?ex=117756000...
>>>
>> 
>> Microsoft's hold over Intel may be less than at any time in the past.
>> On the other hand, all the chip manufacturers stand to gain if the
>> world is forced to upgrade to Vista, with its heavy hardware
>> requirements.  Today's NYT carries an article saying that Intel's
>> profit is up in the first quarter.  I thought it might be because of
>> Vista sales.  Apparently not:  Intel "said that first-quarter profit
>> rose 19 percent partly as a result of a one-time tax benefit and the
>> company's move to a more efficient production process, while sales
>> fell slightly."  No mention of Vista at all, and, in fact, sales are
>> down.  Of course that could mean that most Vista sales are going to
>> AMD, or it could mean that Vista sales are so small they don't make a
>> blip.   Someone (Bailo?) on this newsgroup commented a few days ago
>> that Vista might actually be hurting new computer sales, and in fact
>> that makes sense.
> 
> You sort of beat me to it. I /did/ see Intel's figures as well and they
> suggest that the Vista'sa promised and foreseen 'bloom' is nothing but
> decreased sales. It's a PR bubble. Since AMD has been doing badly recently,
> I doubt they are the reason behind Intel's decline (the tax issue goes back
> a month or so ago when I wrote about it). I don't think AMD gained. Samsung
> (mainly for chip/memory) and the stores express similar concerns.
> 
> When people are faced with the option of buying a /more pricey/ computer
> which have the scary Vista tag (people do talk) they just wait and watch.
> Ubuntu 7.04 is out tomorrow. Make some buzz. :-)
> 

Face reality, folks!  The public at large are no longer excited by
computers, and they're certainly not interested enough to spend
thousands of dollars, euros or pounds on them.  This might actually
spell the end of the x86 world, as the public moves increasingly to
highly portable/mobile devices which are often better served by ARM and
other architectures.  It probably spells the end of Intel's total
dominance of the micro-processor market, however, I do not believe that
we'll see another spell of single-corp dominance, or a duopoly like
Microsoft/Intel (or was it more of a symbiotic pair of monopolies?).  In
any case, there are so many alternative viable platforms out there,
and linux will run on pretty much anything, so there is little chance of
another Wintel alliance running the world for the next few years.

A few years ago on the home in the evening, you might have seen the
trendy techno-people either doing their email or watching videos on
their laptops, or using a portable game player (the z80-based ones were
popular then).  Now, you'll see people listening to mp3s on their
phones, or using media players of one kind or another (I've see a few
Archos ones around - and Mrs Mark has one which she is /really/ happy
with), iPods are obviously popular, but there are many other kinds of
mp3 player.  There are a few web tablets, too, although they're not
quite so popular.  Those who /really/ want to do their email tend to
have a blackberry now.  It's really difficult to see where the x86
laptop fits into this mix, let alone a desktop machine.

-- 
| Mark Kent   --   mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk          |
| Cola faq:  http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/   |
| Cola trolls:  http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/                        |

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