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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Black-Scholes who wrote (80614)	5/8/1999 12:42:00 PM
From: Process Boy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Black-Scholes - One more thing Barrett said just last week something to the effect that PC's can and should be as easy to use as TV's. I believe this concept is critical to the PC business growing going forward. How he envisions getting "there from here" I am not sure, and I didn't read that he specified how this was going to happen. I would look for initiatives going forward that address this issue. However, the rest of the PC industry will need to come along on this. If the PC business becomes balkanized due to this issue, I believe there will be severe consequences to pay [for the PC business], or the PC will turn into a niche product over time. These type issues intrigue me very much. Thank you for sparking the discussion. I know there are a lot of different visions as to how the net-centric world will operate. I believe it would be in Intel's best interest to keep on top of this the best it can, and I believe they are, based on various statements and initiatives from Intel Execs that have come to light recently. PB

To: Black-Scholes who wrote (80614)	5/8/1999 1:01:00 PM
From: Process Boy	Respond to of 186894

Black-Scholes and Intel Investors - Intel to initiate IA64 [Merced] venture capital fund, according to Cnet news.com Note that HP and Compaq are contributors, according to the report. This may help dispel Register type rumors that HP and Compaq are having second thoughts about Merced and IA64. ====================================================================== Merced gets its own venture fund By Stephen Shankland Staff Writer, CNET News.com May 7, 1999, 5:10 p.m. PT Intel will unveil an investment fund of about $250 million Monday to spur long-term adoption of its new 64-bit chip architecture, sources said today. Contributors to the fund include Intel and "most of the important system vendors," a list which likely includes Hewlett-Packard, Dell Computer, and Compaq Computer, sources familiar with the plan said today. The fund is geared to encourage start-ups to build products around the upcoming server and workstation chips as well as to encourage established companies, such as Internet service providers and software developers, to build products centered around the "IA-64" bit architecture. The first of these chips, the Merced, is due out in 2000. These companies will also be encouraged to adopt servers and workstations containing IA-64 chips for their operations. Intel chips today are based on 32-bit architectures, but several competitors have 64-bit chips that compete with Intel. Intel declined to comment on Monday's announcement. Although Intel invests in many companies as a way to further its business, this fund is explicitly aimed at hardware and software companies whose products will speed the revenue flow from the new 64-bit Intel architecture. The investments aren't expected to actually result in revenue for at least 12 to 18 months. That puts the payoff time after debut of the first IA-64 chip, Merced, slated to be released in the middle of 2000. McKinley, its successor, is due in the latter part of 2001. The plan is interesting in light of the fact that many analysts expect a relatively slow adoption for Merced and IA-64. The chips are aimed at high-end corporate computer buyers, who tend to be more conservative. Many expect the Merced chip in effect to be a test bed to ensure software runs on the new architecture and move to the architecture when McKinley rolls around. Intel wants IA-64 to be the "unifying platform," the chip on top of which all operating systems run. In today's world, Microsoft's Windows is strong on Intel chips and most varieties of Unix usually are found running atop a variety of companies' RISC chips. Among the operating systems being ported to IA-64 are Sun Microsystems' Solaris, the Monterey system from Santa Cruz Operation, Sequent, Compaq's Tru64 Unix, SGI's Irix, Linux, and of course Windows. However, because of earlier delays in Merced, HP and SGI have extended their own chip architectures farther into the future, the companies have said.