For the first time in their life, Intel had to back track
recently. After the release of the famed 1GHz Pentium iii, Intel
had to release the 850Mhz and 866Mhz Pentium iii processors.
That’s very different from what AMD did recently. While Intel
released their 1GHz processor with no lower clocked cousins, AMD
released 900, 950, and 1000MHz (1GHz) Athlon processors. This
might not mean much to the average person, but to me, this means many
things.
For starters, Intel obviously put too
much effort into the 1GHz processor, which was only released in
restricted quantities to particular OEMs, such as Dell. If we
look back, we’ll see Intel jumped from the 800Mhz Pentium iii, to the
1GHz Pentium iii, which leaves a HUGE 200Mhz gap (20%) in clock
speed. Intel has never done that before. Remember, that
they did announce their 1GHz part only a couple of days after the
release of the AMD Athlon running at 1GHz. It’s obviously that
Intel is only trying to keep up with AMD, and not just setting the
standard anymore.
Keep in mind that the 1Ghz processor
isn’t available to you and me, unless you’re Dell, HP, or IBM.
Unlike it’s recent catch up release, Intel released the 1GHz processor
to certain OEMs. AMD, on the other hand, has the 1GHz processor available
to the general public, if you want to pay an arm and a leg that
is. And, if you can find one. There is no doubt about it,
in the next couple of years, we’re going to see some low prices, and
high speeds, true of what the manufacturers are capable of, and not
what the manufacturers are going to profit the most from, as we have
seen in the past.
Computers and Young People
When most think of the Internet, or just computers, and young
people, it’s sad to say that they think of hacking and destruction,
rather than productivity. Many of the most dedicated and
productive people I’ve known are teenagers. Take for instance
(almost) everyone’s favorite review site, Anandtech.com. He’s
only 17, and already makes (in my opinion) too much money (because he
makes more than me. :-] ) The majority of people that stereotype
this way are the, for the lack of a better word,
“old-school” type of people. I’m sad to say, that this
stereotype isn’t unearned. Most of today’s computer hackers are
teenagers, or people in their early twenties. They are
particularly male, and do illegal things on computers, rather than the
internet, because the chances of them being caught is slim to none,
unless of course you go off and deface a federal website, then the
FBI, CIA, State Troopers, and Army Commandos will hunt you down like
the flea infested mutt you are (unless of course you deface that silly
White House for Kids website…that’s too…lemme think of a good
word…Tipper Gore, for me).
If you are one of those
“old-school” types of people, try to be a little more open
minded. All teenagers with knowledge about computers aren’t
bad. Don’t get me wrong, all aren’t good either. There is
no real way to put a percentage of on the good kids or bad kids when
dealing with computers. At a certain time, under certain
conditions, the changes of encountering a good kid or bad kid are
different. For instance, Illegal Software chatrooms on the
internet are a place to find the bad kids. Bulletin Boards aimed
toward free hardware support,
Mechanic Forum,
find helpful kids. As a matter of fact, you probably won’t be
able to tell the difference between a 30 year old that does hardware
support for a living, and a 15 year old just home from school on most
Good Bulletin Boards.
We all know that stereotypes aren’t
morally right to uphold. It’s your choice to believe what you believe.
Next time, just think before you believe.
NOTICE TO Transistorized and
Tormented FANS!
Wanna write like Dok? Wanna be a part of the fastest growing
3rd party PC Support site on the Net? Wanna do 3D Reviews?
Wanna help others tweak their systems? If so, PC Mechanic is
looking for more editors, because we’re undergoing a major
expansion. If you answered “YES” to any of the
questions above, GO HERE NOW!
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