I found this quote on The Register from Intel’s VP and Director, Digital Enterprise Group, Steve Smith [1], really tickled my funny bone:
“Having enthusiasts play with our parts is our goal here…”
No offense, Steve, but I have no desire to “play with your parts”. Hopefully, Steve has a good sense of humour.
I think this quote probably came in the context of Intel’s “Viiv” platform [2], which I understand to be intended to standardize/simplify use of Intel products in home entertainment devices. It isn’t a new technology in and of itself, at least I don’t see one: it’s more like a recipe. Take a Core Duo/Quad core, chuck in some audio and video, and add a funky remote, pay Intel so you can put a sticker on the box- presto, Viiv.
To me, Viiv looks a lot like the Microsoft Origami thing from a year or so ago- a platform standard, not a product, and frankly that’s hard for me (and probably others) to get excited about. Intel has some promotional things going on to generate some buzz around Viiv. For example, they had a competition for companies/people to submit system designs using the Viiv platform specifications [3]. The winner doesn’t look bad, but what’s up with the beige second place finisher? Sorry, but that thing is uggggleeee.
Ah well…at least there are *some* techno-gadgets that are interesting: for example, a snazzy looking new USB microscope [4].