Intel's Mac cover-up

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Intel's Mac cover-up By Matthew Rothenberg, ZDNet News

June 10, 2000 4:39 PM PT

"Only the paranoid survive." -- Former Intel Corp. CEO Andrew S. Grove

Far be it from me to argue with the man who helped rear the 800-pound gorilla of microprocessors.

Nevertheless, readers familiar with this column know that I believe in moderation when it comes to the circle-the-wagons mentality some diehard Mac users have adopted toward the larger Wintel world Grove played a major role in creating.

I tend to cleave to the hope that users of good will -- regardless of their preferred OS -- can be convinced of the wisdom of a multiplatform ecosystem, and that Mac users can best serve this objective by working alongside their Windows counterparts to demonstrate their status as citizens of good standing in the PC community.

That Gandhi-esque posture certainly doesn't mean I think Mac users should be treated like doormats, however. That's why I side with the Mac protectionists when it comes to the recent fracas between Intel Corp. and Harvard University over the presence of iMacs at a Pentium love fest on campus.

While the import of the incident is strictly symbolic, Intel's strong-arm tactics lend credence to the persecution complex of many Mac users while creating a gale-force tempest in what started out as a perfectly innocuous teapot.

Just the facts

A quick recap: According to a story in The Crimson Online, the Web component of Harvard's campus paper, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Computer Services (FASCS) covered and turned off the Science Center's iMac-driven kiosks under pressure from Intel, which sponsored an exhibit in the Science Center as part of a recent Internet and Health conference at the university.

FASCS Director Franklin M. Steen told reporter Shira H. Fischer that he acceded to the request under duress from the processor giant (which apparently took umbrage at the presence of computer systems that employ the competing PowerPC processor from IBM and Motorola) as well as the university itself.

"We like to maintain the facilities for students ... [but we were] asked in a way that we couldn't say no." Steen said he brought down the curtain on the iMacs "only after multiple requests and great reluctance."

"Usually, if we say no, we're done, but this just didn't stop," Steen said. He added that the Intel-supplied covers trapped heat, making it impossible to keep the muffled iMacs running.

Beverly J. Freeman, an independent consultant who helped organize the conference and discussed Intel's request with the company's representatives, made no bones about Harvard's motivation in throwing its weight behind the move. "We did it as a courtesy to Intel, the sponsor of the showcases," Freeman told the Crimson. iMacs are "Apple's, and Apple is a competitor."

Harvard's sense of courtesy apparently didn't extend to the students who were inconvenienced by the gesture and took steps to address it themselves. "The covers were removed about halfway through the conference," the Crimson's Fischer reported. "By 5 p.m. on Tuesday, some students and many more conference participants were standing in lines to check their e-mail at the uncovered kiosks. The original plan had been to cover the computers until noon on Wednesday, when the Internet and Health conference ended."

Due process?

One contributor to MacCentral's message forum painted the incident in an even less flattering light: "My wife works at the Harvard Science Center in the media-services department (which is 90 percent Mac-based). She was witness to the harassment and rude attitude of the Intel representatives. They were childishly demanding that the iMacs be removed from the premises or they would have to be covered up.

"Harvard argued that they were in use and wouldn't be removed. This escalated into a threat of Intel not sponsoring Harvard's graduation week (and therby removing their [monetary] contribution). Harvard finally agreed, and Intel also covered up the signs and windows to the nearby Mac multimedia lab.

Absolutely pitiful."

Now, blocking access to Macs at a college science center for a day and a half doesn't represent a major offensive in the platform wars; indeed, Intel's prima-donna posturing smacks of overzealous middle management, not orders passed down from the highest levels of the company.

Nevertheless, it's impossible to avoid comparing the awesome market power that Intel controls in the firmware space with Microsoft Corp.'s dominant position in the software realm.

For better or worse, the MS-DOJ proceedings have put discussion of the proper (and improper) use of such power on the front burner. If it wants to avoid taking the same sort of heat, Intel should take every step necessary to ensure that such a clear abuse of its economic clout isn't repeated.

Mac veteran Matthew Rothenberg is senior news producer at ZDNet News.



-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), June 11, 2000

Answers

My uncle was a weasel. Made a lot of money off of it though.

-- Scummy (Scummy@scum.scum), June 11, 2000.

Cherri:

I think that they need to worry. I use Macs, Unix and Wintel machines. Much of what I do [the most important stuff] is graphics intensive and must be done on a machine containing IBM/Motorola chips. I believe it is a cache problem [not a hardware guru so I can't say for sure; with the usual people skills of a programmer, the guy who writes the programs said only a moron would write these for an Intel machine; yep, I asked him]. Hence, the programs aren't even available for machines with Intel chips. As more work moves in this direction, Intel will have a problem.

Best wishe

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 11, 2000.


Z,

What program's are you referring to specifically? I have been teaching myself graphic arts for a year or so and am starting to get into some of the headier stuff,with higher end software and would like to know what you are using.

I have tried the Pc's for most everything I use on my Mac and they suck accept for the rare occassion.( clunky-kinda like the SLEZ : )

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), June 11, 2000.


Cap:

It is all custom software, even though some of the data is stored in Photoshop originals. It is graphic analysis. Dealing with things like searching electron micrographs for area measurments of subcellular organelles and analysing complex gels. Files to well over 100 megs; some very much higher. I am running a top of the line G-4. It has the extra advantage of warming the room on a cold day. :^)

What I do is somewhat specific, but I expect that it reflects what will be done in the future. As a long time photographer, I am setting-up a similar system at home to work on such things.

Best wishes,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 11, 2000.


Z,

Thanks for the info,now a couple more questions.

1. Like the G4?

2. What is a "similar" home system consist of?

Trying to reach the top of the curve so I will be ahead,one of these days,mayhaps.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), June 11, 2000.



Z,

Sounds you need a Cray, or an IBM mainframe, with the attached vector processor!

<:)))=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), June 11, 2000.


Cap:

1. I am a conservative person. I will say; so far so good, althought it puts out a lot of heat.

2. I'm not totally sure yet. General plan; a 500/G-4 with a gig of RAM. SCSI board, scanner [to be determined], VRAM to be determined; everything to be determined. I need to be able to scan 8 x 10 and 4 x 5 transpar. and negatives into Photoshop and burn them onto a CD. I am still working on the plans.

When I figure it out, I will be as suprised as you.

Best wishes,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 11, 2000.


Yo, Z:

When you come up with a system, we should talk. For everyone else, Z and I are old friends from the large format photography sites. He has an 8 x 10 Deardorff that I would love to have. Z, you have my email address.

Gre

-- Gregor (Gregor10001@yahoo.com), June 11, 2000.


Sysman:

How are you doing? Have used them. But the G-4s are so fast, they are better; and they are mine, I don't need to schedule time. I mean, they are linking them for SERI analysis. Mainframes will always have a place, but, evidently, not here. I am no prophet, just know what works in the here and now.

Gregor: will get back to you when I learn more. If you have any info on negative scanning, you have my email.

Best wishes,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 11, 2000.


Z,Sysman,

I ignorantly envy you guys,way above my head( I think).

Z,

From my humble forays it seems what you need is VERY doable only $$$ seperates the want to's from the I can's.

And I thought PS 5.5 was a big damn deal : |

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), June 11, 2000.



Cap:

It would be foolish to over-estimate my knowledge. I'm sure that we are on the same plane.

Best wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 11, 2000.


Cap:

It would be foolish to over-estimate my knowledge.

In contrast to me, my experience leads me to believe that Sysman does know a lot about the subject. He was very helpful before rollover. He agreed that I should do nothing with my Wintel machines and he was right. They all worked on 01Jan00. Guess that he does know what he is talking about. Lord knows, I often don't.

Best wishes,,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), June 11, 2000.


One word: Macrulz

Another word: Intelsux

Thanks Cherri for putting this up. Sad story that it is.....

-- semper paratus (here_with@my.pals), June 12, 2000.


Semper,

Long time no see my friend,I hope all has been well with you and yours.Don't be such a stranger dude : )

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), June 12, 2000.


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