Slashdot Mirror
Intel to become an ISP?
Andy Tai writes "This
InfoWorld story reports that Intel will go into the ISP
business and compete with IBM, AOL, etc." Sure,
why not? They have their fingers in all the hardware, why
not control it right up to the consumer?
Wonder if this is why Intel has been collecting VC proposals for ISP's and Internet related business?
With an intel CPU, an intel OS and intel as ISP,
...
they will have a very good basis for "spying" on
consumers.
I don't even LIKE that idea
With an intel CPU, an intel OS and intel as ISP,
...
they will have a very good basis for "spying" on
consumers.
I don't even LIKE that idea
Probably, the point is that everybody signing up with Intel's Web Hosting Services must sign an agreement that they must put very CPU consuming graphics on their pages, so that viewers need the latest greates P III to view them
It doesn't even have to be a low-price computer. I think there is at least one ISP that is doing this sort of thing with iMacs.
Did you bother looking into the issue at all? Do you have any idea what Intel is really doing? Or did you just see that Intel is making servers available and suddenly think "Ah! They're going to be an ISP and control the world!"
/. regular.
Please. You're no better than the National Enquirer.
I'm embarrassed to be a
That way they can accidently test out more privacy features and forget to turn them off.
"We completely apologize for accidently selling your personal info to 8,000 companies. It was a bug in our software that can now be turned off"
Exactly...Intel was/is planning on leveraging their new chips with the ID's with their own web hosting. Can you say tracking? No privacy?
Intel is annoying.
When intel created the intel.** newsgroup hierarchy, it took them a long time to figure out that the messages come from all over the world on many different servers. They still think they own the newsgroup and try to censor viewpoints that they don'w agree with. I think their biggest reason for wanting to become an ISP is so that they can "control the message". They want to censor down to the last mile, something they can't do now.
Wait, MS invests in North Point and then invests in Rythmn Networks its competitor?
It's so MS, if you can't compete buy the competition.
Damn, this should be pressed in the DOJ case.
You think you're joking? It's been done! Intel already handed out bags of "iNtel chips" to it's employees at one of it's events. Yep, potato chips. Most of the attendee's havent' eaten them; they're collector's items.
PIII only... and it it only works if you don't disable the CPU ID, right?
"Big Brother Inside!"
So, they will be supporting Apple Mac users, too, right? ;-)
The good news is, Micros~1 has already proven that you can lose money as an ISP, if you're really arrogant, and Inhell sure fit's that definition...
1) They undeniably charge more for CPUs than would be the going price in a competitive market.
2) They are arrogant assholes.
3) They engage in anti-competitive practices not unlike the other evil empire, Microshaft.
4) They regard their legal department as a profit center.
5) They unswervingly put short term profit above innovation or customer satisfaction. (How quickly you forget the Pentium floating point bug fiasco.)
6) Despite massive R&D resources available due to monopoly rents from their CPUs and "dirty tricks" marketing practices, they STILL can't come out with any better CPUs than AMD does, with far fewer resources at it's disposal.
7) Their corporate culture. They give employees mandatory classes in "contructive confrontation" (translation: if you're not being an asshole and bullying people into giving you all the corporate resources you need, not only will your project fail, but you will be regarded as "not fitting in".) They practice "zero-sum" compensation, called "ranking and rating". How does this work? A department get X amount of dollars for incentive bonuses. They put everybody in a room and have them judge each other. Obviously, if you give somebody else high marks, you're taking money out of your own pocket... so if you can't find something bad to say about somebody, you make something up!.
I worked for Intel as a consultant. I became fed up with the people I worked for and the abusive environment, so I tried to transfer to another department. My manages essentially told the new department that I was a horrible employee, "unsuitable to work at Intel" to sabotage my move. They then begged me to stay in their department, apparently thinking I wouldn't find out how badly they badmouthed me behind my back! The good news is, I transfered anyway (not even another Intel manager beleives an Intel manager) and every manager I had problems with has since been fired (No, not resigned, not layed off... they got their asses fired!) from Intel.
Now, how much did Andy/Craig/Pat pay you for your statments?
How soon we forget:
The FOOF bug
The Pentium floating point bug, and Intel's initial reaction: "You must Prove to us you really need accurate floating point before we will replace your CPU!" I guess the phrase "implied waranty" is meaningless to them, especially if it effects their almighty profits.
they offer a good product
/. readers are stupid enough to actually believe the Intel adds that promise you that buying a new Pentium will make the Internet so much faster.... please! It's the modem stupid, it's not the CPU!
With FOOF and floating point bugs??? Backwards compatible to 4004??? Looked at the POWER consumed by a Pentium lately???? Yes, they do offer a few good CPUs: the StrongARM and the Alpha. Too bad neither were developed by Intel. Too bad Intel buys out superior chips, only to kill them.
they are helping out the Redhat developers.
And this is purely altruistic too, not 'cause they think it will leverage CPU sales, right?
Isn't Intel fairly forthcoming in allowing developers even access to information of their products?
I think some people, like the guys that sue them for witholding information because they actually support alternative CPUs (Intergraph?), would probably disagree.
the idea that a company's entry into a new market is somehow inherently evil is amazing to me.
True, entering a new market, in and of itself, is fine. Using an existing monopoly or near-monopoly to leverage a position in a new market, like Intel tried to do with the i740, IS anticompetive. Would you like to see Intel double their CPU prices for every OEM that doesn't ship every box with an Intel.net signup icon on the desktop? No, neither would I. I isn't nice when Micrso~1 does it, it isn't nice when Intel does it either.
Fact is, they are only getting involved with Linux because it gives them a club to hold over Micros~1's head when billy boy decides NT support for Merced will ship a few years later than originally promised... just wait 'till Micros~1 starts cooperating again with their efforts to keep PC buyers eternally bound to the inferior Wintel architecture, and you'll see what a good friend they are of open source.
By the way, I haven't seen ANY Linux drivers ship with any piece of Intel hardware... has anybody else? "Commitment to Linux" my ass!
By the way, how many
Why is Inhell so unpopular, indeed...
Write a virus targetted at consumers of
P-III's with serial codes divisible by 666.
And then publish it to the local news agencies..
If intel sends you a virus fix via email,
you can charge them with invasion of privacy..
With some of the PCS providers around here (Austin, Texas, USA) you buy the phone and pay on a month-to-month basis, instead of getting a contract. If you decide to switch services you sell the phone. Prices are typically about 100USD (though I got a 30USD rebate from Best Buy for mine). A couple companies that do this are Sprint, Primeco, and (I think) AT&T.
I like paying a reasonable price for a phone better than I would like being locked into a contract.
Over here, Gateway 2000 has computer leasing, so you can upgrade for "free" (given that you keep leasing).
Good thing that won't happen, since there's no Intel OS...
LOL, it would be hilarious if AOL made CPUs. There would probably be an AOLHELL opcode to switch from user mode to supervisor mode. And microcode updates would occur automatically, unasked, at the least convenient times.
I can't believe how much paranoia runs rampant here at /. Some of it may be warrented, other people seem to have read 1984 a few too many times...
Maybe we need a new acronym for uninformed posters - RTFA (Read The F***ing Article)
According to the InfoWorld story, Intel's goal is to mimic IBM, not AOL or MSN. The average user probably won't even notice their presence, with the *possible* exception of lots of plugins being used at their clients' web sites.
Dan
With Intel's recent support of more open alternatives to Microsoft OSes, it'll be interesting to see what they base their network on.
Remember how the PIII is supposed to "make the Internet faster"? Looks like Intel has finally figured out how to pull that off.
(not serious, yes sarcastic)
-- brandon s. allbery, sysadmin @ cmu electrical & computer engineering "Think, youth, THINK!"
Well I read the thing and web hosting Services != dialup services IMHO.
'nuff sed
Toodles
#941
...then there will be a horrible pricing and marketing scheme designed to fool the users. There will be ten different subscription levels, and to the untrained eye deceived by marketing, the most expensive ones look the best, but to those in the know, the cheapest ones are just as good for 25% of the price. Kind of like Pentium II/IIIs and Celerons.
The number of suckers born each minute doubles every eighteen months.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Intel's CPUs have a very poor architecture. This is perhaps one reason for the animosity. How many times have you heard people complaining about the stupid BIOS on PCs, the lack of registers on x86s, etc? Well, it's mostly Intel's fault.
Also, have you been intentionally ignoring the other buzz about them? That they intentionally put incorrect information in their manuals? That sort of thing is bothersome as well. There is a reason that the DoJ has been investigating Intel.
...why worry, when Microsoft is buying up/investing in DSL providers?
9 90420.icmsnorth.htm, MS is investing in NorthPoint Communications.
Two have been mentioned in InfoWorld. Yesterday, in this article, http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?
MS has also invested in Rhythm Networks.
http://www.rhythm.net (but no mention of MS investments)...
For both, MS is cutting deals for ISPs involved with these CLECs to provide "portals" for MSN. The virus...no, cancer, grows...
"The deal is Microsoft's second DSL investment in the past month. The software giant announced a $30 million stake in Rhythms NetConnections, a competitor to NorthPoint, on March 17. That deal also calls for a co-branded MSN portal. "
They have become aware of the cross-branding potential of the Intel name.
:)
You will soon be able to buy a bag of any of several flavors of new Intel Pentatium Chips at your local grocer. They will be selling a package called the Intel Pentatium III which will be a three-pack of regular, Celeron (Sour Cream and Celery) [Ewww!], and Overclocked - with super hot spicy seasoning on them!
They will come with wash-off tattoos that you can put on your stomach that say "Intel Inside".
Oh yummy! They also will be released on May 19 to coincide with the release of Star Wars Episode One. I wonder which one I can't wait for the most!
When used in conjunction with the Pentium III numbering scheme, they can offer you easy and reliable support before you need it. They'll be able to track how much porn you're viewing online and such.
If AOL started making CPUs... well that's another story entirely.
--- http://foo.ca
I was thinking the same - introduce a chip with an ID, then become an ISP - coincidence? Then again, Intel isn't the only company gathering lots of info on customers/web site visitors/subscribers
etc.
Very simple: they are a big company. So what if they offer a good product, people will spread propaganda against them in hopes of helping out the little guys. This is the only way I can explain it. I mean, does anyone really think hardware should be free? If not, you need a company to sell it, and those that do a GOOD JOB will get big! Isn't Intel fairly forthcoming in allowing developers even access to information of their products? Sure, they can't give out everything, but they are helping out the Redhat developers. . .And finally, the idea that a company's entry into a new market is somehow inherently evil is amazing to me. You are probably better off not trying to understand, just hope that eventually people will become more open minded.
First, there is no bugs in MY chip, they just screwed up once, OK? And can you really expect to tell me that the voltage drawn by my processor is some big deal? I don't care about voltage, I want the fastest i386 processor and I can't get it anywhere else.
Second, again, I don't care about their motives. What corporation WOULD support linux for altruistic purposes? (back to my ever so carefully not included comment on hardware NOT being free and needing a company to sell it.
And yet again, they ARE in business, so they can't tell everyone everything about their products. I don't care that some whiny company is sueing, let them, they won't get anywhere.
Third, why do you presume to speak for Intel? That is exactly the type of propaganda I am talking about. "Would you like to see Intel double their CPU prices for every OEM that doesn't ship every box with an Intel.net signup icon on the desktop?" I am sorry, I must have missed that part of the article. Glad I have someone posting here that is so in the loop with Intel. Oh, but you weren't finised there, where you? "Intel adds (sic) that promise you that buying a new Pentium will make the Internet so much faster...." I have yet to see one of those, either. I have seen ones that claim to 'unlock the power of the internet', do things like allow easy and secure online ordering (but wait, big brother is out to get us, he is all around, Intel is going to use this against us, ahhh!!!). I have also them claim to increase multimedia performance of video playback and such, which I can't help but say is justified given A) they have the fastest performing processor in the (i386) market, and B) almost all developers optimize for MMX now. I just don't see who you would claim offers a better product, unless you are just saying they offer an imperfect product, which everyone does. Of maybe you are just on of those AMD people waiting for the *cough*vaporware*cough* K7.
Would that even be legal in the US? Here in Norway this has been used to push cellular phones. Ie. you buy a phone for 1nkr, and sign up for 12 months with service provider X. This is happening with home PCs too. You get a cheap PC, provided you sign up for an internet account.
Would such a move by Intel force AMD to do the same? What about processor upgrades? Would it be possible to by a new processor cheap every time your ISP contract expired?
- the Crazy Fraggle
Indeed.. all in all a highly scary concept given Intel's latest bad track record on privacy issues .. 'read your mail sir? . certainly!' .. 'save your credit card details for later use? .. of course!' ..
Still, in a free market there's no-one forcing us to change ISPs to Intel. No doubt some sap will do and then whine about it.
Delphis
Considering the bull hockey moves of having PIII only websites (I guess since they move faster on the Internet than non-PIII sites), this seems like a sensible move on their part (and in their minds).
Let's hope they don't begin to get the content bug that has gotten into Micros~1's little mind.
Chris
Chris
So Buddha walks into a pizza parlor and says: "Hey, make me one with everything."
I just saw an AP story on this. Intel will not have dial-up services, but will provide servers for use by ISPs and other companies.
are we watching the birth of the Beast?
Just kidding...
Get off my launchpad!
AMD.
They do this with cell phones here. 'Get a cell phone for 1 cent' is pasted all over here in texas... The only catch is you have to get like a 6 month contract of phone service and stuff like that.. It was illegal in california to do that, but now it's not.. But I think they could do the same thing w/ pcs..
"The pen is mighter than the sword... But what if you can't write?"
I ate my tag line.
-=Ellis (D)25=-
Well, Intel (despite the 20 e-mails I send them a week - sometimes a day :-( ) launched their PSN, which just happens to allow companies to track your on-line movements. Now they are going in to the ISP business - so won't they have even more control over the PSN? I mean, they would be able to build up a secret dabase tracking all of their customers movements - even when they stoped using Intel for their ISP. I can see something nasty in that woodshed...... :-(
Down with Intel!>
http://www.jonmasters.org/
What an absolutely brilliant Idea - I'll send 100 copies of this to Intel to p*ss them off. Want any help?
http://www.jonmasters.org/
Yeah, we know, but it needed a headline right? I mean how many times (if ever) has one of Mr. Murdoch's publications (The sun, etc...) ever had an entirely true headline?
Oh, and nobody cares who you work for.
http://www.jonmasters.org/
The main reason I don't like intel is that their chips are waaaay overpriced. Mainly because they have no competition.
The "buy AMD argument" doesn't really count - AMD provides competition in the low-end CPU market. Intel has NO competition in the high-end CPU market. (When I recently upgraded my computer I unfortunately needed a high-end CPU in the x86 market, so AMD was NOT an option.) Remember, these are fundamentally two different markets. People who need big-n-fast buy big-n-fast. People who don't, dont.
Look at intels pricing: Low-end cpu market, low prices, competition. High-end cpu market, very high prices, no competition. Coincidence? Hardly.
The price/performance ratio is MUCH lower in the low-end CPU's. But when you need fast, you gotta have your wallet sucked dry, so that Andy Grove and his executive chums can each get their 2 million $ bonuses this year, on top of their $400K salaries. (Sure, they deserve it, they're the successful ones, but that doesn't change the fact that they're overpriced.) $7 billion in the bank doesn't hurt either.
something that runs on Merced.
Opinionated Law Student Strikes Again!
I don't see any reason for the anti-intel mood on /. Intel is a great company. It has great founders and great managers. Their chips can out do any other's any day. Want to use AMD? Go ahead. There is choice there. But the reason why AMD sells so cheap is because their chips lag Intel by a wide margin. And AMD's management sucks. Alternatives? Digital Alpha was an RISC processor which if adopted could wipe out all the investment put into X86. IBM? Motorola? Apple has is more closed than Intel is. No I don't work for or intend to work for Intel
People people people, Intel is NOT becoming an ISP in the sense of Earthlink or AOL. This is not new, Intel execs were talking about this a while back.
What they ARE doing is penetrating the lucrative datacenter market. For those of you that don't know what that is, it means they are going to begin wholesaling Internet bandwidth to server co-locaters.
(Although I must admit... I didn't think Intel would be a competitor of ours any time soon...)
--globalnap.net, product of pure caffeine--
Hmmm, lets see, we have billions of dollars worth of revenue. I know lets spy on people!
:)
Come on people, this is not the cold war here, they make and sell hardware, they dont take your credit card numbers and buy themselves a new TV!
Grow up...
Yes Yes, I know about the serial numbers, here is a radical idea, maybe they really were trying to stop illegal sales of processors? Wow, what an idea!!
If not, then who cares if they know you have a PIII, big deal...
-Sorry, this is my first post, I know this wont give me a good rep..
Quitters never win, Winners never quit, But those who never win and never quit are idiots.
I have an AMD K6/300 in my system, and it runs just as fast as my friends Pentium 300's.
...PIII only, right? :)