The chip giant's latest move into consumer electronics is questionable.

It's been fun to watch Intel over the years, as it smartly promoted its brand with its "Intel inside" campaign. Intel managed to popularise the bunny suit with ads featuring dancing bunnies. Now the company is using three blue men to promote the Pentium III chip. The current ads are getting attention, but do they sell chips? None of the Intel ads were nearly as effective as the memorable ad done about a year ago by Apple: a slow-moving snail with an Intel chip glued to its shell. The point of all this is that Intel is wasting money. And it's only going to get worse.

Now the company is trying a little foray into consumer electronics, which can't possibly be successful. Intel has just announced a Web tablet, an MP3 player, and a thing called a ChatPad, which I suppose is targeted at the arena for mail-centric devices such as the Blackberry. You have to wonder why Intel is spinning its wheels on this consumer junk.

The Web tablet, for instance, is another "who needs it?" product that has never impressed me, no matter who thinks it's marketable. I first saw one of these things a couple of years ago at a Comdex show, where Cyrix was promoting the idea. Everyone was jazzed about a wireless tablet that people could use to surf the Web while sitting on the couch. Who wants to surf the Web while sitting on the couch? I can see using such a device as an inventory-control mechanism or a wireless notepad for a coach at a basketball game (the sport would have to be indoors, no thanks to display technology). But these are not mass-market items, and inventory is best done by scanning tools hooked to the Palm platform. Anyway, these tablets are designed specifically for surfing the Web, as though we all want to spend $500 or more for wireless networking to go surf the Web. Give me a break. A few early-adopter nutballs will buy this thing, and that will be the end of it.

Why is Intel doing an MP3 player? The selling point for Intel's device is that it has twice as much memory for the same price as the competition. Uh, okay. That could be an advantage that's tough to protect. Then there's the ChatPad. Why go into a market sub-segment that can be swamped in any given 45 minutes by Taiwanese and Chinese clones by the jillions? What is Intel thinking?

What should Intel do? I know what the executives are thinking: "Hey, let's cash in on the branding we've been doing with all those pricey TV ads." I think that's a thought. Exactly what was the branding done for? Hmmm. Computers. Hey, folks, how about a computer?

There has been a huge battle within Intel's executive suites about bringing out a branded computer. I was told the company had even test-marketed a branded machine in Finland or some far away country. But the fear is that chip customers will get annoyed and run to AMD for all their chip needs. A lot of customers are doing that already, so what difference would a branded computer make at this point? Get over it.

Here are some moves Intel could make:
The box of the future. Intel could build one of those futuristic slotless machines it likes to show off at trade shows. These machines rely on USB for add-ons. These are closed boxes, and very Mac-like. Intel always wants to break new ground, and I think the time is ripe for a complete system that doesn't have a bunch of slots for expansion. It would have networking, a big drive, and USB. It would be fast, preconfigured, and groovy-looking. Why not? None of the PC companies seem keen on such a system. But instead, Intel makes a Web tablet.

Building a reference system. This is exactly what Intel should do. Build an ultimate machine -- a reference machine, and call it the Reference One. It would be the latest and greatest technology the company could muster. Everything would have to be compared to it. Using its own motherboards and newest chip sets, along with Rambus memory and the fastest chip it can make, Intel should put together a serious (ritzy even) machine for people who want the best -- and charge real money for it.

The company should not overprice the system, but there should be a small premium. Unlike the MP3 player the company is trying to lowball, Intel should take the high road and build a perfect machine with lots of support -- a Lexus approach. What's the point of cheapening the company image with the Hyundai approach of its MP3 player? I don't get it.

Let me ask you this: What other smart ideas could Intel choose to cash in on the company image?

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