Stories by Tom Yager

AMD, ATI and Intel – watch the sparks start flying

From the moment I got the call, I knew there was much more to AMD’s acquisition of ATI than was being reported. My mind immediately leaped to the ramifications the acquisition would have on ATI’s relationship with Intel OEMs. Intel couldn’t be happy about having AMD inside systems that bear Intel’s imprint.

Nothing to fear from native code – it’s been put in its place

I have prepared an account of the history of .Net and Java that’s intended to balance more fanciful post-mortem accounts. It reads thus: Sun created Java to cash in on the success of Visual Basic and to convince development managers that C++ coders are all slobbering toddlers playing with nail guns. Sun did grant C++ dispensation for “performance-sensitive applications”, a category that covered most of Sun’s software catalogue. Microsoft created .Net to keep Java from gaining traction and to put that cross-platform nonsense to rest once and for all. One OS, one run-time, many languages was the best way to go. C#, the Microsoft alternative to Java with the honesty to use “C” in its name, still kept the pencils and paper clips away from the inmates except, of course, for those developers working on performance-sensitive applications, a category that covered most of Microsoft’s software catalogue.

The ghost of Netburst still roams at large at Intel

Intel’s first server-targeted core microarchitecture CPU, the dual-core Xeon Processor 5100 (alias Woodcrest), has made its debut. A client CPU line-branded Core 2 Duo was also launched, so in servers, desktops and notebooks, Pentium 4 (alias Netburst) is officially off the roadmap.

How not to go about hiring IT staff

An ugly truth about the IT job market is that opportunists too often dominate it. Honest employers and job candidates suffer because they’re forced to compete with cut-throats. Some employers see workers as property to be loaded, spent and replaced like rounds in a Gatling gun. Similarly, some workers see themselves through the lens of the dotcom heyday — demigods who could get the pay, terms and conditions they wanted with a minimum of skills.

Why tech staff are in short supply

I admit to frequently harbouring unrealistic expectations. With that in mind, here’s my early take on why hiring managers are having a hard time finding good tech workers.

Intel launch eclipsed by AMD’s post-Opteron plan

Intel’s present drumbeat around the forthcoming Core Microarchitecture, multicore technology, and low power utilisation is intended to give it a major PR boost in the CPU battle with AMD. A fresh coat of paint on a retreat to a mobile architecture must have been the best Intel had to bring to the party, because when the party was held at the Spring Processor Forum, in San Jose last month, Intel just stayed away.

Piracy threatens legitimate tech exporters

The news of counterfeit Intel-based Macs surfacing in Asia shocked me into seeing the magnitude of the piracy and counterfeiting threat. Counterfeit or cloned Macs (I don’t know if thieves are bothering to mimic the chassis designs) create the frightening possibility, perhaps even the likelihood, that Apple will gradually be shut out of lucrative new markets. China comes to mind. I can’t calculate how many Macs Apple might sell in China, but I know that 40% of Apple’s current revenue already comes from overseas sales. Organised piracy could eat away at the business Apple is already conducting by making legitimate Macs appear overpriced where knock-offs are readily available. That’s already true for Windows, and the situation is not improving.

Too many options can spoil the party for IT

I once saw Jonathan Schwartz, Sun’s new chief executive, speak at a pre-recession trade conference. It wasn’t a conference to announce the recession, although Sun would have been the most appropriate outfit to sponsor that shindig. Schwartz uttered three words that stuck in my head and which I’ll always associate with him: “Choice is bad”.

Server virtualisation means thinking thin

Assuming you view system virtualisation as an escalating priority, this is a good time to stop and think about client systems and applications, before dipping your brush and drawing that first block in your grand virtualisation architecture.

Virtualisation will save problem-solving time

There are only a few markets ideally suited to virtualisation. One of them is software development. As the scene is usually painted, the developer sits at his or her desk, compiles new software, and launches it in a virtual machine so that when it crashes, it doesn't take the whole box down.

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