Slashdot Mirror


Intel Wants PCs To Be More Than Just 'Personal Computers' (engadget.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report "What people need from a PC, what they expect is really more diverse than ever," Intel's Client Computing head Gregory Bryant said in an interview. "We're going to embark on a journey to transform the PC from a personal computer to a personal contribution platform... The platform where people focus and can do their most meaningful work." Bryant says Intel will focus on five key areas to reframe its vision of PCs: Uncompromised performance (of course); improved connectivity with 5G on the horizon; a dramatic increase in battery life; developing more adaptable platforms that go beyond 2-in-1s and convertibles; and a push towards more intelligent machines with AI and machine learning integration. Admittedly, many of those points aren't exactly new for Intel, and they also fall in line with where the computing industry is going.

30 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. They are by phantomfive · · Score: 3

    PCs are more than just 'Personal Computers.' They are phones and all kinds of devices....it's just that Intel isn't part of that.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    1. Re: They are by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Phones aren't really PCs. They're too locked down to be used for developing software. Which was the whole point of PCs...not having to go wait in line and buy mainframe time.

      Let's face it, computers in most hands are just another boob tube.

    2. Re:They are by JMJimmy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Honestly, the area of the market they need to develop is the integrated home PC.

      A modular system, wired into the home that enables 3rd parties to develop home technologies. I don't need every device in my home to be connected to the internet - I need them to connect to my home system and be managed locally. My PC should be my home's cloud and every "smart device" should just be a control board & dumb display that get fed data from applications/services running on the PC.

    3. Re:They are by webnut77 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Honestly, the area of the market they need to develop is the integrated home PC.

      A modular system, wired into the home that enables 3rd parties to develop home technologies. I don't need every device in my home to be connected to the internet - I need them to connect to my home system and be managed locally. My PC should be my home's cloud and every "smart device" should just be a control board & dumb display that get fed data from applications/services running on the PC.

      The trouble is that those vendors are not going to give you what you want. As vendors, they need to harvest your data. They also need to have a backdoor into your device for reason... Therefore your device needs to connect back to the mothership.

      TFS:

      and a push towards more intelligent machines with AI and machine learning integration

      This makes me nervous. Will this serve me or the vendor?

    4. Re:They are by Marc_Hawke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Like webnut said, gone are the days when someone would sell you a product. Now everyone is just using products as bait in order to hook a recurring revenue stream. They could make things that work 'stand-alone' but it's so much more profitable to make it go through the middle-man....with them being the middle man.

      That being said, is there an indie/homegrown market for home automation? Is it all just Raspberry Pi based stuff? Are their light-bulbs that will work on my internal network? Is there a remote door lock system that listens on my own IP address and not routed through a server on the internet?

      I think their are. The first security camera flaws were poorly secured little web-servers in the cameras themselves weren't they? But at least they had to come to my house to hack me..rather than hacking everyone all at once by hitting the server.

      --
      --Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
    5. Re: They are by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      Most personal computer usage was never used for software development.
      For the most part the old PCs wern't used to compile software. Yes they had BASIC, mostly because of a lack of software options. But Early PCs were used mostly for things like Games, home/office tools and word processors.

      Back in them olden days, if you were doing anything serious with a computer you would have a Mainframe or at least a Mini-computer.

      Phones/Tablets are actually filling the PC's traditional roles. Today's PC's are now more for workstations. And its market needs to be setup for more workstation like features.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    6. Re:They are by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

      I have yet to find a task management app that can sync with all my PCs yet doesn't use a website of some sort. Same for note-keeping apps that can contain both text and images. I started using Keepnote on the PC but no way to integrate that with phone.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    7. Re:They are by atrimtab · · Score: 2

      The two most popular IoT wireless protocols (Zigbee & ZWave) are proprietary requiring 20k+ licensing fee's to make your own devices. There are some emulation libraries for WiFi devices (Like the Phillips Hue & WeMo) but are not 100% compatible with smart home hubs (Like Amazons ECHO V2 for example). There are open source wireless protocols that use the same frequencies as Zigbee but none of the smart home hubs support them unfortunately.

      Z-Wave is proprietary, but Zigbee has open source software and hardware options.

      You can use a Z-wave/Zigbee/WiFi controller hub like the VeraPlus and cut off it's ability to "phone home." While built on OpenWRT Barrier Breaker it's still proprietary, but more hackable and controllable than the others.

      There is also work being done Rasberry Pi replacements for the Vera using projects projects like OpenLuup:

      https://github.com/akbooer/ope...

      --
      Facebook is billions of individual "Skinner Boxes." And if you use it you are the pigeon!
    8. Re: They are by ausekilis · · Score: 2

      Writing anything beyond a 20 character script to update a Raspberry Pi from my phone is an exercise in frustration. I refuse to write even Hello World on my phone. I have a Desktop or Laptop for that.

  2. improved connectivity by Errol+backfiring · · Score: 2

    If that is a eufemism for communicating behind the user's control, I certainly do NOT want " improved connectivity".

    --
    Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
    1. Re:improved connectivity by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I honestly don't want anything they're selling up there except uncompromised performance. I want to see larger DRAM capacity and more I/O bandwidth, on a larger range of their product portfolio than it presently has.

      I've got a smart-phone, I don't want it to be my laptop or desktop, nor vice versa.

    2. Re:improved connectivity by postbigbang · · Score: 3

      It would do my heart well if they'd just fix their processors so that they're immune from predictability attacks, rather than trying to distract the world with their latest PR shenanigans.

      WTF, Intel? Can we even trust you? EVERY ONE OF YOUR CPUs made in the past decade is abusable. FIX THAT FIRST.

      --
      ---- Teach Peace. It's Cheaper Than War.
  3. GTFO then..... by khandom08 · · Score: 2

    We're going to embark on a journey

  4. Too much marketing speak by BLToday · · Score: 2

    Holy Flying Spaghetti Monster, that was marketing loaded statement. How about Intel gets back to doing Intel things, building great chips. Cut the marketing talk and do the engineering walk.

    1. Re:Too much marketing speak by khandom08 · · Score: 2

      Don't forget - fix the fucking design issues that make us vulnerable to Meltdown and Spectre.

    2. Re:Too much marketing speak by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3

      No can do, it goes against "uncompromised performance".

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  5. uh by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What does the CPU maker have to do with all that?

    Just execute the instructions, thanks. Oh, and don't give things access to the memory that shouldn't have it. Thanks again.

  6. We need more pci-e lanes on the desktop and higher by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 3, Informative

    We need more pci-e lanes on the desktop and high end gaming systems.

    AMD has more on both and on there high end gaming / workstations chips all cpus have the same number of lanes. Unlike the intel ones where min cpu cost is $1000 just to get the same number lanes that can $350-$500 chip used to have.

  7. It's dead, Jim. by nospam007 · · Score: 2

    And you know it.

  8. Still waiting on the phone "dock" to be ubiquitous by gravyface · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seems to make the most sense to me: phone + high-quality KVM experience = what 99% of the population wants.

    --
    body massage!
  9. Learn from Blackberry by mykepredko · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From the headline & summary, I was immediately flashed back to my time at RIM where the company had exactly the same vision for Blackberries - the talking points are identical to what I heard at RIM. TFA goes into a bit of the technology required for the vision but, again, I could go back 8-10 years to RIM and see identical issues (connectivity, battery life, processors & software omnipotence) being discussed as requirements for the platform.

    RIM's failure to succeed was largely due to hubris and inattention to what was going on around them but I tend to think that there was a basic underpinning that there is NO single device that can do everything for everybody and trying to come up with the ultimate device, whether it is on a communications device (Blackberry) or a "personal contribution platform" isn't going to end where the proponents think it will.

  10. Hell no by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I want my PC to do one thing and one thing only: do what I tell it to do. I don't want it to "think" for me, make guesses at what it thinks I'm going to do, or get in the way of what I'm doing.

    I want a platform which is stable so I can do my work.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  11. Simpsons by Train0987 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Homer had the same idea when he designed his car.

  12. But does it run Linux? by jfdavis668 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Or is it going to be locked down to tight to load your own OS?

  13. Marketing just figured out how to say... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    They want PCs to be PCs?

    Because that is what it reads as.

    Then you read 'always on 5G connectivity' and it becomes Big Brothers Little Helper instead.

    I can always go for more battery life, but going for always connected insecurity is out of security budget.

  14. No thanks by OrangeTide · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm only looking for a Personal Computer or Workstation. I don't wish to commit to anything beyond that.

    It's like when I buy a blender, I don't also need it to be a cheese grater.

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  15. Um... by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 2

    Uncompromised performance (of course); improved connectivity with 5G on the horizon; a dramatic increase in battery life; developing more adaptable platforms that go beyond 2-in-1s and convertibles; and a push towards more intelligent machines with AI and machine learning integration.

    Uncompromised performance (of course) and a dramatic increase in battery life typically don't go together well. Granted, they can get better battery life, but it generally means that at least some compromise in performance is needed.

    Still, most of this just sounds like a long winded way of saying they want to get into the mobile phone market. Better battery performance- check, 5G connectivity- check, AI blah blah, Siri, Google voice, etc- check. More adaptable platforms, phones are getting pretty powerful these days. I can certainly foresee the possibility of being able to wireless connect them to a keyboard mouse and monitor. Actually it may evolve into a device that you wear/implant that contains your stored files and setup preferences and a phone works as a handheld interface, or you can interface it with a wireless KVM. Or your home entertainment system. If there were some type of standard interface it would start making upgrades less painful too.

  16. AI and personnal assistants by Zitchas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honestly, I really like the idea of having a personal assistant AI sort of thing that tries to help keep track of stuff for me.

    The problem is that everything these days wants to send all that data back to a server somewhere. My personal computer should be just that: My. Computer. I want something that requires zero internet connectivity to do its job. And that job should very clearly be: Do what I tell it to do. Take notes, schedule an appointment on my calendar, open programs, set a timer, or an alarm, or a reminder, etc.

    The closest it should get to doing stuff online is if I specifically ask it to do something online. ex: "Search the internet for pictures of kittens." Simply stating "Search for kittens" should default to searching my computer itself. Nothing should go online without my actually stating that it should go online.

    Computers in the late 90s were starting to get programs that could do basic voice recognition and dictation. I see no reason why my computer today can't do vastly better at it than the old apple performa did - and without using any servers anywhere to do so.

    --
    Z
  17. Be leery by fluffernutter · · Score: 2

    Everyone knew the day was coming where PC manufacturers would limit the low level control you have on your PC so that they can be locked down from doing activities they deem to be wrong, and encourage you to do activities they can monetize. Now the day has come.

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  18. Ah, Intel by Artem+S.+Tashkinov · · Score: 2

    That's the marketing speak for, "Let's divert our customers and shareholders attention from the fact that our 10nm rollout is now three years late and still incomplete and the fact that we haven't updated our uArch in years (the last one was Skylake in ... 2015) and AMD is closely trailing us in the IPC metric (which is considered the cornerstone of CPU performance) and with the advent of 7nm process from the competing fabs is around the corner and AMD has all the chances to make us irrelevant".

    Oh, Qualcomm is about to introduce SnapDragon 1000 which is going to directly compete with Intel's ultra low-power/low-voltage CPUs.

    Intel has just found itself irrelevant because having been a monopoly for so long has eaten the company from the inside.

    Oh, and it's the middle of 2018 and we have yet to see their CPUs which have Meltdown (and Spectre to some extend) fixed in hardware. A bloody 12 months later year after the issue was reported to them. Instead Intel is about to rollout an anniversary 8086 CPU, which is the same old Coffee Lake (8700K) with a 5GHz turbo boost. WTF, Intel?!