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Itani-what?: Merced is Renamed
Anonymous Freak writes "Well, Intel has finally decided on a name for the first IA-64 processor. The processor formerly known as Merced is now called "Itanium". Boy, and I thought "Pentium" was a silly name when it first came out." Itanium - the mind boggles. Forget this - I'm still calling it Merced - although Itanium is targeted "at the Internet Economy" according to the press release *gag*.
I think it's a newly discovered highly radioactive element. Naturally, heavy elements of this sort are highly unstable and will decay in a matter of nanoseconds at best.
Perhaps it really is a fitting name for this new chip after all?
-CausticPuppy "Of all the people I know, you're certainly one of them." -Somebody I don't know
% whois itanium.com
...
Registrant:
Intel Corporation (ITANIUM-DOM)
2200 Mission College Blvd
M/S SC4-203
Santa Clara, CA 95052-8119
Domain Name: ITANIUM.COM
... snip
Record last updated on 01-Oct-98.
Record created on 01-Oct-98.
Record created 01-Oct-98? Have they really been planning on naming the ship "itanium" for ONE YEAR? You would have thought that they would have been able to come up with a better name in a *year's* time. Or at least though better of it...
Ack.
My word processor was written by Stanford Professor Donald Knuth. Who wrote yours?
Barrons had an interesting piece on Intel this week, entitled "Intel NOT Inside."
In that article as well, Intel claimed that it was targeting the internet economy. The implied reasoning was that the profit ratio is about the same on the $500 chips as the $100 Celeron, so they're about five times as lucrative. The article estimates that one server-class machine is needed for every ten consumer machines on the Internet.
If consumer hardware is getting cheaper while server hardware is staying steady or even advancing in cost, we can see where the safe money's going to be for Intel.
Given the above, and the article's further declaration that Intel has already made/is trying to make further inroads into the embedded controller market where switches, hubs, etc are concerned, we can determine that Internet Economy is obscure jargon for the Internet server and networking hardware market.
--
My question for Intel is whether it's prudent to explicitly remove emphasis from lower end systems (if that's what they truly intend). By Intel's admission, the $100 chips still make the same percentage profit. Wouldn't it make more sense to get on the ball and start pushing Microsoft and game developers to make use of SMP in consumer products, and to then push its low-end SMP-capable processors?
Imagine the benefit to Intel (and us) if they let companies continue to make these sub-$1000-PCs, but if each had 3 spaces free for candy-colored $200 cartridge with another processor and a bit of RAM inside. Average consumers can finally buy that PC that lasts them 5 years, and Intel still gets (eventually) the full price of a server-class chip when people finally upgrade. (And I'll wager quite a few will if they can do it in sub $200 increments!)
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Aaron
One thing's for sure, "Itanium" sticks out. It's so bizarre that it *has* to become a household word, which is exactly what intel wants.
I think I can extrapolate some future Intel chip names based on their previous track record:
2002: The Itanium II is introduced, with new AMI (Advanced Marketing Instructions) Technology(tm)
late 2002: A low-cost version of the Itanium core comes out, called either "Asparagon" or "Vidalion"
2004: Itanium III (duh)
late 2005: Intel's first 128-bit CPU is announced, which will be named Delirium.
-CausticPuppy "Of all the people I know, you're certainly one of them." -Somebody I don't know
After the incredibly annoying You-Must-Have-A-Pentium-III-To-Enjoy-The-Internet (despite your inability to actually find any sites that look even remotely as processor intensive as the ones in the commercial, that looked more like CAD/CAM), can you imagine the advertisements for the Intanium, which is NAMED after the darned network?
"Intanium: This One Will Actually Enhance Your Internet Experience, Honestly!"
"Intanium: If You Thought The 32-Bit Internet Was Great, Wait Until You See The 64-Bit Internet!"
"Intanium: Databases Will Commit Transactions Like Never Before."
You do have to look at it from Intel Marketing's point of view... how do you hype "Do Things Faster" when that's been your line for the last 20 years and is, apparently, wearing thin with the management.
Still, I can think of a campaign targetting the slashdot crowd that would work well:
"Intanium: Have A Computer More Powerful Then Most Servers You Visit!"
Now that, that just sings to me, baby!
Completed in the year 1999, the good chip Itanium set sail for the new world. They said it couldn't crash, that new technology made it invincible.
However, late one night the ill-fated CPU struck a large 32-bit instruction floating somewhere in the "Internet information economy" which ripped a large hole in her stack and damaged her bus. With the cache on fire, the order was made to abandon chip.
Luckily a nearby chip, the SS Athlon was able to support all of the Itanium's users and no lives were lost.
Except for that damn Leo DiCaprio who exploded.
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