Maynard Handley (name99.delete@this.name99.org) on September 27, 2013 7:07 pm wrote:
> Doug S (foo.delete@this.bar.bar) on September 27, 2013 6:09 pm wrote:
> > Linus Torvalds (torvalds.delete@this.linux-foundation.org) on September 27, 2013 10:07 am wrote:
> > > And I don't think Intel is there yet, and I agree that the situation isn't the same as it used to
> > > be. But the "growing up from below" is definitely real, and I think Intel needs to worry, and Intel
> > > needs to execute. The fact that people are even talking about something like an ARM-based MacBook
> > > Air, and aren't being laughed out of the room, that is what Intel needs to nip in the bud.
> >
> >
> > Why do you think this is a problem for Intel? Apple is
> > unique, and people have never purchased their products
> > for their performance. That goes doubly true for the Air.
> > If they make the switch, it hurts Intel somewhat
> > since Apple's volumes aren't insignificant, but Apple is a special case, not a recipe others can follow.
>
> - Apple shows everyone else (including Qualcomm and the other vendors
> who WILL sell to all comers) what is possible in terms of speed.
> - Apple (and, to be fair, others) continue to create a kick-ass compiler for ARM in the form of LLVM.
> - Google (and, to be fair, others) continue to improve Linux for ARM.
>
> Point is, there has been a long period where Intel was the easy choice, not just because of performance but because
> the whole ecosystem was there, from dev tools to OS to specialized code for crypto, codecs and so on.
> But day by day an ecosystem almost as good is growing up around ARM.


That's true, I agree that Apple is helping in that effort, particularly with regard to LLVM.

I'm not sure I buy, however, that showing everyone else 'what is possible' in terms of speed helps very much. Intel showing 'what is possible' with x86 performance doesn't seem to be helping AMD very much in their efforts to keep up :)