| Intel
Being the big boy on the block, Intel could hardly stand around
with the normal folks, could they? Well, they decided to take up an
entire VIP room of the 4th floor of Hall 3. That made it a bit out
of the way but hey, wherever Intel goes, people follow. :)
So, Andy Drake and I trudged up to the 4th floor and went into
Intel's VIP room. While Andy went off in search of an Intel staff to
pester (heheh...), I stopped by the nearest to see Intel's
displays.
First, there was a whole bunch of motherboards all lined up for
inspection. Needless to say, they were motherboards based on Intel
chipsets. Since that was nothing spectacular, I took this picture
instead (which on hindsight isn't spectacular as all) :-
Intel's i820 solution
What this picture shows us is the highest concentration of RDRAM
I have ever seen. Of course, they may not actually be RDRAM RIMMs
but only their mockups. But you get the idea. :) It also
shows us what Intel's idea of the ultimate solution for its users'
systems would be like.
As you all know, Intel's idea of an ideal computing solution
almost always isn't a smart buyer's idea of an ideal computing
solution. Only someone with a lot of money to burn would consider this
to be his/her ideal computing solution.
Intel Service At Its Best
Since there were several Intel staff chatting to themselves
nearby, I decided to pester them. It was more to elicit some
response so that I can see for myself the degree of helpfulness and
professionalism displayed by the Intel staff, rather than a genuine
request for information. However, I expected to be treated almost
like royalty (heheh...) since that's how the press has been
treated at Computex so far. Here's the gist of how well my
questioning went :-
| Yours truly |
Hello! I'm Adrian Wong. I work for
a hardware site. Can I ask you some questions please? |
| Intel PR guy |
(fake smile turned on)
Sure... |
| Yours truly |
Well, I would like to know about
blah blah chip... What blah blah features does it have? |
| Intel PR guy |
Who did you say you were working
for? |
| Yours truly |
(lifting ID to show) I'm
with a hardware site. |
| Intel PR guy |
(fake smile turned off) Hang
on a second. I'll pass you to my boss. |
| Yours truly |
Okaaay... |
| Intel PR boss |
Hello! What can I do for you? |
| Yours truly |
Well, I'm interested in this blah
blah chip which you have just released. I have all the
technical details from the regular sales kit but could you
give me some... ah hem... extra details about this reputed
blah blah feature? And how well can it overclock? (okay...
that was a really stupid question to ask an Intel PR
manager) |
| Intel PR boss |
(eyes starting to wander
elsewhere) Are you an Intel customer? |
| Yours truly |
I own an Intel processor which I
run on a motherboard based on an Intel chipset. |
| Intel PR boss |
Sorry. But unless you are an Intel
customer, I'm afraid I can't do much for you except send you a
sales kit. |
| Yours truly |
I already have a sales kit. Doesn't
my ownership of an Intel processor qualify me as an Intel
customer? |
| Intel PR boss |
(smugly) Nope. Well, I have
to go now. Thanks for stopping by. |
So, it begs the question - when will I qualify as an Intel
customer?!!
On the bright side, I met another PR guy on the other side of the
room who was extremely helpful. It turned out that he was sent from
the US to explain Intel's new RAID controller. After learning about
the mini-fiasco, he slipped me some Intel goodies that I probably
could have gotten myself at the front desk. But frankly, it was an
extremely nice gesture, especially after the arrogance and hostility
displayed by the local Intel PR staff.
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