Greg In The Desert

Intel has a slide show on Tom’s Hardware on how Processors are made. I found it to be well done but I have to wonder if this is some sort of advertisement for Intel.

The ingot is then moved onto the slicing phase where individual silicon discs, called wafers, are sliced thin. Some ingots can stand higher than five feet. Several different diameters of ingots exist depending on the required wafer size. Today, CPUs are commonly made on 300 mm wafers.

According to USA Today Apple is in negations with Verizon. AT&T’s contract with Apple to carry the iPhone expires in 2010.

The New York-based telecom entered into “high-level” discussions with Apple management a few months ago, when CEO Steve Jobs was overseeing day-to-day business, these sources say. They declined to be named because they aren’t authorized to speak publicly.

People tell me all the time how much they want the iPhone but won’t switch to AT&T because of the superior coverage of Verizon. That Verizon is sucking up to Apple to get the iPhone wouldn’t surprise me.

Before releasing the iPhone, I think Apple looked into starting their own wireless company. Having no idea how successful the iPhone would be and how much a undertaking starting a wireless phone company would be, they decided they needed to focus their efforts onto the hardware and partner with a wireless company. If the iPhone was a hit, they would work on being their own wireless company later.

Apple will eventually want to have control of the wirless network. They will either start their own or buy out AT&T. Why not stick with the world stanardard of wireless phone networks GSM, which AT&T uses and not Verizon.

I don’t think a deal with Verizon and Apple will happen. I also didn’t think Apple would switch to Intel processors.

A Intel Software Developers Blog has the following on switching to a Mac:

Since the announcement of Apple’s plans to use Intel processors, I have periodically tried out their computers, planning to eventually make the switch. The day has finally arrived. Last week I acquired a new Core 2 Duo-based MacBook Pro for work. After using it for a week, I feel like I could easily become an evangelist for these systems. They have a lot to offer a Windows developer. I have especially enjoyed having things just work instead of wasting time debugging problems. For example, the first time I plugged the MacBook into my Cinema Display, the new display was detected correctly and I automatically had a desktop that spanned the built-in display and the external Cinema Display. I popped in a DVD (Cream’s concert at the Albert Hall). The DVD came up full screen on the Cinema Display and automatically began playing. Pleasant surprises like these have shown me how, on the Windows platform, I had become trained to expect things NOT to work.

The revolution is at hand. I know more people who switched to a mac than I can count on both hands, and I don’t know that many people.

First, Apple announces it’s switching to Intel processors. Now there is a Palm Treo floating around that runs Windows Mobile. Yes, a Palm that runs Windows.

I’m starting to build a bomb shelter and horde food now, but I doubt that will save me.