commentary Will Intel's new processor marketing push actually help anyone?Last Friday, Intel finally pulled the trigger on one of its longest-standing marketing principles, when it announced plans to effectively stop promoting its processor line primarily on the speed rating of its processors. Instead, what we´ll get is a series of model numbers for each of Intel´s main PC processor lines. Intel´s being a touch coy about the whole thing -- we know they´ll start with Pentium 4 processors having a three-number suffix starting with 5, with Celeron and Pentium-M having 3 and 7, respectively. So instead of having a Pentium 4 3.06GHz with Hyper-Threading Technology™, you´ll instead be buying a Pentium 500 with Hyper-Threading Technology™. Quite why the P4 suddenly becomes a "500" and not the more logical "400" seems to be a bit of a mystery at this stage -- my best guess would be that Intel figures that somebody will be dumb enough to think that because it carries a 500 number, it must be automagically faster than their old Pentium 4.
Intel´s pitch for the new numbering system is that it allows them to differentiate their product lines in a more meaningful way, and that it should be simpler for consumers to differentiate their product lines at the retail end of the spectrum. I´m sure that AMD executives are wondering exactly why they didn´t patent the idea several years ago, as it´s a spin they´ve been using for quite some time now.
While they´re not yet releasing details about the specifics, the current suggestion is that something like a 500 and a 505 would only differ on one characteristic but still be the same core processor, while presumably the 575 would be a much more varied beastie. Intel´s rather keen to point out, however, that the differences might not be those that directly translate into a faster benchmarkable unit -- your 512 might only differ from the 511 in that it can utilise a chipset with different audio hardware, not that it´s directly 1 "unit" faster, whatever that might mean.
Intel's thinking that this will somehow make the purchasing decision process easier for the end consumer is something I´ve got my doubts about. In the early phases, at least, I suspect there´ll be more than a few punters convinced that a 500 and a 505 run at 500 and 505 MHz -- and I´m sure there´s an underpaid salesperson who´ll make that exact gaffe.
Intel won´t be suddenly hiding the processor specifications either, so we can still expect to see system specs listed below machines sporting the new number scheme. I´ll bet some customers will still look at the numbers and presume that the 700 series must be really cutting-edge stuff, and that the 300s and 500s are yesterday´s technology. And I feel truly sorry for notebook vendors using desktop chips, as they´ll have an even more confusing picture of selling what looks inferior on paper to an already confused audience of consumers.
All the time, too, I suspect that the tech enthusiast crowd will continue to do what it´s always done: look at the speeds, specifications and every other factor that goes into making a processor decision. Without a handy comparison chart in every store, they´re not going to even look at the pretty three-digit numbers -- they´ll just cut to the chase directly.
What do you think? Is a numbering scheme like Intel´s genuinely less confusing, or is it just more meaningless marketing mumbo-jumbo that we´ll have to cram into our craniums? Talkback to me below!
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