Low-cost PCs a reality

By Leon Engelbrecht for Intel
Johannesburg, 01 Apr 2008

Low-cost computing is now a reality, says Intel global number two Sean Maloney, but using cheap chips cuts functionality and sets in motion the law of diminishing returns.

Maloney was in SA ahead of Intel's Developer Forum, now under way in Shanghai, China.

The Intel executive says machines such as the Asus Eee PC have been "pretty catalytic... a lot of people are now manufacturing low-cost devices suitable for children or people with less disposable income".

He predicts that such devices will become quite common in all markets "inside of two years".

But, he says "there is a trade off... the cheaper you go, the less utility you get and you reach a point where it is not really a PC anymore, which is maybe okay if you just want to browse the Web".

Maloney warns that going cheaper from there then reduces the browser experience. "There are certain divine laws that emerge and one of them is that right now you don't get a very good Web experience if you are using a microprocessor of 2005 vintage or older."

Making sacrifices

"The example I tend to look at is Macromedia Flash, which is currently the largest traffic generator on the Internet. The newest version you will be prompted for with all its bells and whistles won't really work on a 2004 microprocessor, so you will have sub-optimal experience," Maloney explains.

"So anything we do in low-cost really needs to bear that in mind - otherwise you can't guarantee a proper Web experience and the user will not be able to run the latest software," he cautions.

Maloney also concedes that industry is bad at predicting the "next big thing", which makes it difficult to optimise hardware - cost-wise or otherwise.

"The thing for the industry is we never know what the exciting new things are because I certainly would not have said back in 2005 that the number one traffic generator in 2008 would be Macromedia Flash. I'd have said it's got to be peer-to-peer... Back then you would not have seen You Tube or Second Life.

"So you can't forecast it... so if someone buys their first computer for $250, it is as precious to them as the one someone bought for $800 five years ago and it's got to last as long, so you can't de-feature it too much.

"We are trying to design, fundamentally bottom-up for cost, but without sacrificing too much performance," the Intel executive continues. "But most children, even at age 10, 11, will not want an entry-level device." Maloney says in consequence he sees the PC market segmenting the same way the cellphone market has done.

Quantum physics

Maloney says up to now Intel has never used "our most advanced processor for cheap computing. We've always used our most advanced processor for high-end."

But with the Intel Atom processor, there will be a departure. Atom was developed for use in ultra-mobile PCs, smartphone and other portable and low-power applications under the codename Diamondville.

He says the 45nm chip, the same technology as used in the high-end "core 2 duo" chip, will now also be directed to low-cost PCs. "That processor is capable of switching a transistor on and off 300 billion times a second," Maloney says. "To put that in a human scale, light travels eight inches [20cm] in that time.

"It means that when we designed and manufactured this we had to take into account quantum physics... It is one of the first manufactured devices on the planet you can't use Newtonian physics for. It is really, really small and that means it is optimised around low-cost and suited for low-cost Classmate-type PCs."

Maloney adds the chip, which is smaller than a US one penny, carries 47 million transistors.