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Intel

Intel to become an ISP? 53

Posted by CmdrTaco from the sure-why-not dept.
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?
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Intel to become an ISP? More

Intel to become an ISP?

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  • Amen (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    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

  • Intel (Score:1)

    by drwiii ( 434 )
    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)

  • Well I read the thing and web hosting Services != dialup services IMHO.

    'nuff sed

    Toodles



  • ...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.
  • Next time, try the facts. First, their chips simply can NOT out do any other's any day. My 600MHz Alpha box, purchased last year for $1000 less than the dual PII model that would have come closest to giving me the same speed, still is faster than anything Intel has, and from the looks of it, will be for some years to come.

    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?

    Two have been mentioned in InfoWorld. Yesterday, in this article, http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?9 90420.icmsnorth.htm, MS is investing in NorthPoint Communications.

    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.
  • 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.
  • Does this mean they will start selling CPUs at extremely low prices provided you sign up for a 12 month account at their ISP?

    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?

  • 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.
  • I'll agree AMD has no cometition at the very-high end of the market, but I have a K6/2 450 and I have to say it kicks my friends PII 400 by more but that should be warranted by 50 mhz. I've never seen a K6 machine that didn't run quickly. That is where the most money is being spent, buying personal computers way overpowered for most people. The higher-end market may cost more per unit, but you're a fool if you think it does more volume.

    AMD's management sucking is something I don't get. Why even say this? ALL management sucks if you ask me :)

  • ...deep inside.

    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

  • 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.
  • 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!> [bigbrotherinside.com]
  • What an absolutely brilliant Idea - I'll send 100 copies of this to Intel to p*ss them off. Want any help?
  • 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.
  • 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.

  • Intel (Score:1)

    by Uart ( 29577 )
    something that runs on Merced.
  • 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...)
  • 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.. :)
  • I have an AMD K6/300 in my system, and it runs just as fast as my friends Pentium 300's.
  • ...PIII only, right? :)
  • Haven't encountered any PIII only site. Examples ???
  • I think IRIX is an Intel operating system. Please correct me if I am wrong.

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