Joe, <as far as desktop is concerned, Tom is right on the money>
First of all, I am no fan of anyone that accuses the general public of being "blind" simply because he can't figure out how Intel can be reasonably successful in the processor market.
Second, Intel is THE high-volume leader in processor manufacturing, period. AMD was only able to crank out 3.6M K7-class processors, of which only 2.1M of them were Athlons. Meanwhile, Intel is cranking out approx. 35M Coppermine-class processors every quarter. So even if AMD gave away all their processors for free (including their 3.2M K6's), they still can't supply more than 17% of the market.
Third, Tom's entire review of the 1.2 GHz Athlon was riddled with unnecessary jabs at Intel. The execution screw-ups at Intel are well-known, yet he goes ahead and "debunks" strawman myths (the oh-so-objective "facts and lies" section). Maybe they're in response to e-mails he has received which accuse him of having a bias. Maybe so, but Tom is only inviting more criticism with his demeanor.
My ultimate point is that Tom needs to open his eyes a little more and see the obvious bias that he has, before he goes around accusing others of being "blind." Tom could have easily made his recommendations without becoming a virtual PR house for AMD marketing. (Yes, it can be done. Read Anandtech's review of the 1.2 GHz Athlon for an example.)
Tenchusatsu |
