Just last summer, everyone in the computer industry was talking about the Transmeta chip, called Crusoe. Now everybody's talking behind Transmeta's back. And Crusoe has been cast away by IBM and Dell, a fate strangely similar to its namesake, author Daniel Defoe's exasperated exile in Robinson Crusoe. What accounts for this reversal in fortune?
Simply put, marketing and manufacturing miscues, combined with newfound competition, have left Crusoe stranded in a niche market, its prospects suddenly in doubt.
It wasn't supposed to be this way. After years of secrecy, Transmeta unveiled Crusoe in January 2000 to intense media interest. To a Wintel-weary world, the chip seemed revolutionary.
Then the hype machine cranked up, leading to a massive, successful IPO in November, at a time when other tech companies were crying out for a capital infusion from Wall Street. Companies like Hitachi, Casio, and Sony signed up to use the chip in computers, looking for a competitor to Intel that could provide processing power combined with frugal energy consumption.
