Mandatory hardware

[Steve Schear]

At 11:52 AM 8/1/2002 -0700, Major Variola (ret) wrote:
>TV makers may face mandate on digital receivers
>Wed Jul 31, 9:17 AM ET
>
>In an effort to jump-start the languid rollout of digital TV, federal
>regulators
>next week are expected to require all new TV sets to include digital
>receivers by 2006, say people familiar with the matter.
>
>TV makers say the mandate would boost the price
>of a TV by about $200, dampening sales.
>Broadcasters, who have pushed for such a rule,
>dispute the figure.
><snip>
>http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=711&ncid=738&e=8&u=/usatoday/20020731/tc_usatoday/4320647
>
>Lets see... they think they can require crap in TVs, in teleco
>equiptment... anyone still doubt they will try a power
>grab on the motherboard?

I think a key difference here is that many, perhaps millions, of consumers 
are comfortable with assembling their own PCs from components and tweaking 
SW.  How many consumers assemble their own TV sets?  Volume black markets 
in underground motherboards and cracking SW may create a viable 
resistance.  Also, the market for new wizbang PCs may be quickly drying up 
cutting off

=======================================

Intel Bets Farm on Moore's Law
By Tom Murphy -- Electronic News, 7/26/2002

<http://email.electronicnews.com/cgi-bin2/flo?y=eHzr0Ejxr10DbD0BpGu0AD>

Intel Corp. will supply 3GHz Pentium 4 processors in time for the holiday 
season, accelerating the company's previously announced timetable by nearly 
a quarter.
Despite trends that show consumers increasingly hunting for value-priced 
systems with lower-performance processors, Intel is more determined than 
ever to stay on the Moore's Law growth curve of doubling process speeds 
every 18 to 24 months.

\Even Gordon Moore, creator of the industry-defining Moore's Law, believes 
the trend line for adopting faster semiconductors is showing signs of 
flattening. In spite of that, Intel keeps tweaking the efficiencies of its 
manufacturing processes, churning out higher-speed machines and introducing 
eye-opening technology improvements such as HyperThreading and 300mm wafer 
manufacturing.

But Intel's agenda may run deeper than rapid adoption of the new chips. A 
3GHz machine would give Intel a substantial lead on rival Advanced Micro 
Devices Inc. (AMD). And with each new speed grade Intel introduces, it is 
able to increase the pressure on AMD by dropping the price on 
lower-performing parts.