Paul, re "As new standards emerge, it is easier to swap in/out an ISA or PCI adapter card when newer/faster standards emerge."
That's true, however, 10Mbit ethernet chips have been standard for years, 802.3 is so common and has been for a very long time. When you can buy an adapter for under $30 for a full ISA adapter you can guess the margin and chip price are pennies.
So I've always wondered why, if for a few bucks, INTC could have added such value to their motherboards, why they chose not to. Besides, by the time a new standard comes along your whole PC probably needs upgrading anyway. Now that it's pretty much common knowledge 100Mbit ethernet is the new standard, and as INTC claims 10/100 is the same cost for them, due to their fab capability and volumes. I'm wondering when they will put it into their boards, can you imagine a dual/quad PPro without ethernet.
Example, there's a video and sound chip on some of their boards, they can be bypassed and upgraded via a card, so I don't see your argument as valid since the ethernet chip is probably even cheaper to add. |
