I stopped reading after he said the Linux community would shift massively to Cell. Since when has the Linux community done anything together? The whole concept is multiple system, multiple interfaces, choice over force. A good chunk of the Linux community run machines that are doorstops by today's standards. Funny stuff indeed.
Hmmmm, he claims that the cell processor is a PowerPC derivative. As far as I was aware, it is a MIPS derivative (Where Toshiba comes in) which is sigificantly different to the PowerPC architecture. MIPS was one of the early RISC architectures and has in the past been rather awkward compared to the more modern PowerPC and Alpha RISC families. It has also had little market in the computer industry since Silicon Graphics gave up on it a few years ago only selling in large numbers since in Sony and Nintendo consoles and embedded applications.
He also seems to think Sun is somehow still significant. I don't think they are any more. Java is their one trump card and they seem to be doing their best to take it down with them. Their server market share is drying up and they seem to be killing some of the few research projects that look like they might have had some promise. Sure they still have enough cash to keep doing what they want for a while (Especially with the Microsoft settlement) but currently they look dead in the water to me. Without some focus and a change of direction I think Sun is dead.
The biggest problem I have with this article though is the way he seems to think that Linux users switching to another architecture will have any effect on Windows and MacOS X. In fact I think it'll be hard to convince even many Linux users to switch as they'll loose their dual boot Windows ability and access to a number of binary-only drivers such as those from NVidia. Linux has always supported various CPU architectures, I don't really see what difference one more will make.
The other problem is that the cell processor had been already earmarked for the Playstation 3. This means any other users will be waiting until Sony has enough chips and will have to fight the general opinion of it being a "games" chip.
I also think Intel and AMD would have something to say about X86 reaching a dead end, people have been saying this for years.
It's an interesting article to read but it looks like some wild and biased speculation to me at best.
If it?s not the horrible threat from the newest BuyMusic.com, the sons of bitches at IBM are setting us up and then stabbing us in the back. How many times has Apple been killed already anyway?
Kickaha and Amorph couldn't moderate themselves out of a paper bag. Abdicate responsibility and succumb to idiocy. Two years of letting a member make personal attacks against others, then stepping aside when someone won't put up with it. Not only that but go ahead and shut down my posting priviledges but not the one making the attacks. Not even the common decency to abide by their warning (afer three days of absorbing personal attacks with no mods in sight), just shut my posting down and then say it might happen later if a certian line is crossed. Bullshit flag is flying, I won't abide by lying and coddling of liars who go off-site, create accounts differing in a single letter from my handle with the express purpose to decieve and then claim here that I did it. Everyone be warned, kim kap sol is a lying, deceitful poster.
Now I guess they should have banned me rather than just shut off posting priviledges, because kickaha and Amorph definitely aren't going to like being called to task when they thought they had it all ignored *cough* *cough* I mean under control. Just a couple o' tools.
Don't worry, as soon as my work resetting my posts is done I'll disappear forever.
I was joking and trying to comment on how often the end of Apple is reported.
I know you were joking. I also have heard the death knells of apple even by Jobs himself(even after returning to apple). If IBM does stop making PPC we still have Moto/freescale even though IBM probably won't do that in a while.
And for an even funnier read, check out the Rush Limbaugh on crack (versus Oxycontin) stuff they are publishing at MacNetv2. Apparently it is a crazed Al Gore who is destroying Apple from the inside. Steve is just a puppet, I tell you!
I have no idea how you come up with Cell as MIPS related as it is IBM doing the heavy lifting for Sony on this one and advertised since day one as Power based (as opposed to POWER based).
I hadn't seen anything about it being Power based and all the early rumors were that it was MIPS based as Sony had licenced new technology from MIPS in 2003 and Toshiba is a MIPS licencee. In fact I wasn't aware IBM was doing the design work, I thought it was Toshiba. IBM manufactures a lot of chips for other companies (NVidia GPUs and even SPARC and X86 in the past) so I wouldn't be surprised at them manufacturing a MIPS design but if they're designing it that's another matter entirely.
I hadn't seen anything about it being Power based and all the early rumors were that it was MIPS based as Sony had licenced new technology from MIPS in 2003 and Toshiba is a MIPS licencee. In fact I wasn't aware IBM was doing the design work, I thought it was Toshiba. IBM manufactures a lot of chips for other companies (NVidia GPUs and even SPARC and X86 in the past) so I wouldn't be surprised at them manufacturing a MIPS design but if they're designing it that's another matter entirely.
Actually, while the CPU for the Xbox2 is reportedly Power based, absolutely nothing has been said about Cell : early rumors talked about MIPS, and then, some Power rumors have emerged, but absolutely nothing from Sony or IBM or Toshiba. I'm pretty sure that Cell is a whole new design.
By the way, IBM manufactures chips for NVidia, but here, they DESIGN Cell, which is completely different!
Heh, conspiracy theorists of the world unite! IBM claims it can deliver 65nm, 3.5 GHz, etc etc therefore its failure to deliver the 90nm 3 GHz 970FX for Apple is proof that they are pulling the rug out from under Apple!
Somebody ought to send this guy through a course on basic logic and reasoning. That's the problem with the Internet -- any daffy bastard can write whatever the hell he wants and people pay attention to his drivel.
I doubt the cell will be that powerful. Sony said the ps would be very powerful but turned out to be nothing ground breaking. Then they said the ps2 could do this and that (emotion engine anyone?) and that turned out to be a complete load of bollocks. Now the cell....anyone remember the story of the boy who cried wolf?
Good morning double-0-7 - This is your car_ a BMW z4,
look here in the trunk, this is a cell-driven computer so powerfull that it would be the top super computer in the world if we let an outside group in to varify it, This system will do anything you need or could possibily imagine - short of attracting women
(James interupts)We Will see...(/James interupts)
(back to Q:
Oh James...
open the glove box and look inside - a wallet-sized device
(James interupts) To crack vault combinations?
(Q)
No, To hold 10,000 songs so you never have to listen to the same song twice on the same mission.
Comments
And I stopped reading after some mention of Sparc based Macs.
He also seems to think Sun is somehow still significant. I don't think they are any more. Java is their one trump card and they seem to be doing their best to take it down with them. Their server market share is drying up and they seem to be killing some of the few research projects that look like they might have had some promise. Sure they still have enough cash to keep doing what they want for a while (Especially with the Microsoft settlement) but currently they look dead in the water to me. Without some focus and a change of direction I think Sun is dead.
The biggest problem I have with this article though is the way he seems to think that Linux users switching to another architecture will have any effect on Windows and MacOS X. In fact I think it'll be hard to convince even many Linux users to switch as they'll loose their dual boot Windows ability and access to a number of binary-only drivers such as those from NVidia. Linux has always supported various CPU architectures, I don't really see what difference one more will make.
The other problem is that the cell processor had been already earmarked for the Playstation 3. This means any other users will be waiting until Sony has enough chips and will have to fight the general opinion of it being a "games" chip.
I also think Intel and AMD would have something to say about X86 reaching a dead end, people have been saying this for years.
It's an interesting article to read but it looks like some wild and biased speculation to me at best.
Now I guess they should have banned me rather than just shut off posting priviledges, because kickaha and Amorph definitely aren't going to like being called to task when they thought they had it all ignored *cough* *cough* I mean under control. Just a couple o' tools.
Don't worry, as soon as my work resetting my posts is done I'll disappear forever.
Originally posted by quagmire
At least we still have Moto/freescale in our bag still if IBM does choose to stab us in the back.
I was joking and trying to comment on how often the end of Apple is reported.
Originally posted by murk
I was joking and trying to comment on how often the end of Apple is reported.
I know you were joking. I also have heard the death knells of apple even by Jobs himself(even after returning to apple). If IBM does stop making PPC we still have Moto/freescale even though IBM probably won't do that in a while.
Originally posted by AirSluf
I have no idea how you come up with Cell as MIPS related as it is IBM doing the heavy lifting for Sony on this one and advertised since day one as Power based (as opposed to POWER based).
I hadn't seen anything about it being Power based and all the early rumors were that it was MIPS based as Sony had licenced new technology from MIPS in 2003 and Toshiba is a MIPS licencee. In fact I wasn't aware IBM was doing the design work, I thought it was Toshiba. IBM manufactures a lot of chips for other companies (NVidia GPUs and even SPARC and X86 in the past) so I wouldn't be surprised at them manufacturing a MIPS design but if they're designing it that's another matter entirely.
Originally posted by MattB
I hadn't seen anything about it being Power based and all the early rumors were that it was MIPS based as Sony had licenced new technology from MIPS in 2003 and Toshiba is a MIPS licencee. In fact I wasn't aware IBM was doing the design work, I thought it was Toshiba. IBM manufactures a lot of chips for other companies (NVidia GPUs and even SPARC and X86 in the past) so I wouldn't be surprised at them manufacturing a MIPS design but if they're designing it that's another matter entirely.
Actually, while the CPU for the Xbox2 is reportedly Power based, absolutely nothing has been said about Cell : early rumors talked about MIPS, and then, some Power rumors have emerged, but absolutely nothing from Sony or IBM or Toshiba. I'm pretty sure that Cell is a whole new design.
By the way, IBM manufactures chips for NVidia, but here, they DESIGN Cell, which is completely different!
Somebody ought to send this guy through a course on basic logic and reasoning. That's the problem with the Internet -- any daffy bastard can write whatever the hell he wants and people pay attention to his drivel.
Good morning double-0-7 - This is your car_ a BMW z4,
look here in the trunk, this is a cell-driven computer so powerfull that it would be the top super computer in the world if we let an outside group in to varify it, This system will do anything you need or could possibily imagine - short of attracting women
(James interupts)We Will see...(/James interupts)
(back to Q:
Oh James...
open the glove box and look inside - a wallet-sized device
(James interupts) To crack vault combinations?
(Q)
No, To hold 10,000 songs so you never have to listen to the same song twice on the same mission.
[/voice of Q from the 007 movies]