Sorry, had to run a letter down to the HOA folks *grumblegrumble*
Here are some answers
thought about kids yet?
Both of us are far too young for kids at this point, and I'm not even sure I want them. Everyone tells me that my mind will change at some point so who knows. I do know that if we had kids, I'd want to be able to dedicate a lot of time to them, and I simply can't do that with my current work schedule.
This may sound silly but can you give your insight on the current pc gamer and the console gamer?
Back when the PS3's specs were announced, everyone asked me why we'd even need PCs for gaming. Now, as we test G80, the Xbox 360 and PS3 seem powerless in comparison. I congratulated NVIDIA on making the PS3 obsolete before it ever shipped
That being said, most of my gaming these days is done on the 360. I think there is a lot of potential for PC gaming to grow and I know that Microsoft is working on a few things to ensure that the market remains healthy. The Games for Windows initiative is a good start, and I know at least some PC game developers are trying to duplicate the console feel on the PC by making games that don't need to be installed - just pop in the disc and go.
Anyhow, if you're answering questions, how's Vinny doing?
Vinney is doing quite well, she got the job she wanted to get. She's working at a non-profit doing low incoming housing development. She gets to mix her legal background with real estate while helping people who need it, she's always wanted to make a difference with her life and she's doing just that. I'm very proud of her and happy to be her husband, she's honestly the most selfless person I've ever met and thus her current work suits her very well.
I was hoping to see that programming category everyone wants
Changes are a comin'
I would really like someone to go down and dirty and get some real insider info on the ATI/AMD merger.
So we've got ATI, Intel, AMD and NVIDIA. In their respective industries, Intel and NVIDIA are the two stronger marketing companies, and the two weaker marketing companies have decided to merge. Of the two companies with weaker marketing, in my opinion, ATI has the better marketing, but of course it's AMD that's buying ATI and not the other way around. I've been afraid that AMD would harm ATI and I think there is reason to worry, but there's also the hope that only good will come of it. What we've seen thus far is ATI's website lose its identity, and all ATI folks now have AMD email addresses, which tells me that AMD is really doing its best to absorb the ATI brand, not keep it around.
Will that mean no more discreet GPUs from ATI? I don't think so. ATI's GPU business has been profitable and a lot of the technology for the integrated stuff comes from the discreet GPUs. The consumer electronics products are also integral to ATI's business and I can't see AMD getting rid of that.
Don't expect to see any more ATI chipsets for Intel in the future, it's not going to happen (except for those that are already close to launch). Right now it's looking like NVIDIA will end up being the 2nd supplier of chipsets to both AMD and Intel, but it will supply both companies.
The integrated CPU + GPU, at least in its first iteration will probably be a value offering. Whether you can do this at the high end will really depend on where the evolution of GPUs takes us. Will NVIDIA be left out in the cold once the integration between CPUs and GPUs happens? Assuming Intel doesn't buy NVIDIA, for the mobile market (think handhelds, cell phones), we may see NVIDIA actually produce their own CPUs with integrated graphics. Not x86 CPUs, but their own custom platforms or maybe something based on PPC or ARM. If CPUs/GPUs don't integrate on the midrange/high end then NVIDIA will always have its GPU business for the PC and can compete normally.
Currently ATI employees are being assimilated into AMD, most will stay, but inevitably many will leave (either be fired or leave for other opportunities). Driver development will continue as it has, there's no real overlap here between AMD and ATI so there's no reason to kill off ATI's driver team.
I will say that it is odd talking to ATI people at AMD now, and something still doesn't feel quite right, but we'll have to see how the coming months go. I think the R600 launch will be able to give us a better feel for what AMD's true intentions are.
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We'll be doing an update in the not too distant future that should hopefully fix the search problems. If it doesn't then we'll look at things and see what we can do to make it better.
Take care,
Anand