F or years, CPU maker Intel used a marketing campaign that emphasized the raw clock speed of its processors. It worked; millions of PC buyers bought new boxes in a quest for what they perceived as more power.
During that same time Apple, using Motorola processors, battled Intelis marketing ploy by attempting to inform the public of the iMegahertz Mythi, which proclaimed that clock speed isnit everything, and that many factors combine to yield computers with the ability to compute faster.
The basic ideas behind the Megahertz Myth were solid, and true for a time, but Intel countered the Megahertz Myth by making processors with ever more raw speed. Throw enough transistors at a math problem, and you can eventually out power even a superior technology. When processors from the different makers were compared, Intelis processor ultimately out muscled Motorolais offering in the end.
Now, a new day is dawning on the processor competition. IBM created one of the first 64 bit processors to be used in a consumer computer, the G5, and consumers suddenly had something else to think about when looking at the capabilities of a computer. Also, processors from all makers have gotten so powerful that raw computing power has become less important to all but computing pros and hard core gamers.
According to CNet News, Intel thinks that customers are beginning to understands this, despite years of being trained that More MHz = Better. The company intends to de-emphasize the raw speed of its future processors and begin to highlight other aspects of its processors, aspects that may entice consumers into buying new computers. From CNet:
Sources familiar with Intelis plans said that the chipmaker in May will begin affixing each of its new processors with a number designed to help consumers decipher how the features stack up against other processors in the same family. Intel will use numbers in the ranges of 300, 500 and 700, similar to the model numbers BMW uses on its sedans.
As previously reported, Intel intends that the new system will help consumers better evaluate a processoris mains attributes, including clock speed, cache size and bus speed.
The new system is a dramatic change in Intelis marketing approach because it takes emphasis away from using clock speed as a main measure of performance. Instead, the system will strive to create a scenario in which a person choosing between several 300 series chips, for example, equates the decision to an exercise in choosing a good, better or best processor, sources familiar with the plan said.
"The need for a metric thatis beyond clock speed is becoming increasingly evident," said Dean McCarron, an analyst with Mercury Research.
Thereis more information in the full article at CNet News.