AMD suffers Gigglehurts hype attack

You've got to giggle at the press release AMD put out signalling its PR triumph over the dark forces of Intel's massive PR department, if only for the level of hyperbole it reaches in places. Before we start on that deliciousness however, let's get the nuts and bolts out of the way. AMD is shipping 1GHz Athlons, and Gateway and Compaq are shipping systems using the said beasts. It has also started selling 950MHz and 900MHz of Athlons. Prices for the 1GHz are $1,300/1000, for the 950 $1000/1000, and for the 900/$900. (We refuse to print the draper's disease prices which have 999 on the end, in the UK that's the number for the emergency services). There are conference calls galore during the day, and we will return to the subject soon enough. AMD has also placed benchmarketing figures on its site which you can find there. We also expect some kind of response from Lurkzilla. Right. Back to the Gigglehurts. Someone has placed this in Jerry Sanders III mouth: " Just as the achievement of Chuck Yeager signaled the beginning of a new era in aviation, the 1GHz processor ushers in a new era of information technology. AMD plans to lead in the gigahertz era." Over here, there's a page about Chuck and his plane Glamorous Glennis, but the comparison between breaking the sound barrier and hitting the 1GHz mark is completely spurious. A processor running at 999MHz is "slower" than one running 1001MHz, but there's no essential barrier that's been broken, unless it be one of marchitecture. And in the crazy world of press releases, and in the even crazier world of share trading, let us assure you, that has amazing significance. The spinners in the press release scale even greater heights in their search for the right metaphor, with Neil "Moon" Armstrong, Roger "Four Minutes" Bannister and Edmund "Everest" Hillary all dragged in to underline the importance of this announcement. Both Gateway and Compaq suits are also dragged in to say their piece about the world shattering significance of the fast chip. Funny, though, we don't remember this level of hype when the x.86 first reached a staggering 10MHz or even an even more epoch breaking 100MHz... Let us not detract from the true glory of AMD's achievement, however. There will be glum, gloom and despondency in Intel's marchitecture labs, because the spinners there have been soundly trashed at the game they started. And, more seriously, and as we have pointed out many times in the last year and a half, AMD is denting Intel's image by being able to supply its Athlons. ® Some important March 6ths in history (source here) 1604 Coronation of Sweden's Charles IX (wrong calendar however) 1836 Battle of the Alamo in Sam Antonio, miles away from Dan Francisco 1896 Horseless carriage appears in Detroit 1899 Aspirin patented 1930 Clarence Birdseye goes into business 1947 Kiki Dee born 1974 Italian loses $1,920,000 in roulette in Monte Carlo 1978 Hustler publisher shot 1992 Computer users brace themselves for Michelangelo virus 1997 Queen Elizabeth II launches Royal Web Site See also AMD likely to beat Intel to 1GHz punch AMD puts Intel on 1GHz ropes Intel to dribble out 1GHz Cumine this month Intel brings Pentium III launch forward (the Tweedledee-Tweedledum story)