Inflection Point (Is the new Microsoft XBox 360 a Dell-killer?)

PBS I, Cringeley ^ | May 12, 2005 | Robert X. Cringely

[jimtorr]

Of course, since more Xbox2's will be sold than G6 generation Apples, MS will control the supply of chips.

I don't think so. I think the great majority of the PPC chips made are going to DOD. As far as I know, all new military embedded processors have been PPC for years now, since Intel bailed out of the market five years ago.

[tm22721]

Xbox is solely a vector processor on steroids, not a general purpose processor.

It can pipeline large video payloads but it won't compete with Intel.

BUMPO

[Dudesdad]

The only reply I can think of is....
"All your base are belong to us!"
sorry.

[angkor]

If you actually connect to a real telephone with a directory number, the phone company is still delivering traffic to the end user.

VoIP phones *are* real phones. And those with cable broadband and VoIP service are completely off the telephone company grid, e.g., not a trace of Verizon in the house.

In a world of global directories there is no rational reason to marry a VoIP telephone *exclusively* to a numeric address, i.e., 202-555-xxxx

[neb52]

"VoIP phones *are* real phones. And those with cable broadband and VoIP service are completely off the telephone company grid, e.g., not a trace of Verizon in the house."

Except when the voice packet is terminated on a PSTN service to complete the call. It could then still be going over Verizon's Network. With VOIP the future would be dialing an IP address instead of a traditional POTS number. But that is still down the road a bit.

[angkor]

Except when the voice packet is terminated on a PSTN service to complete the call. It could then still be going over Verizon's Network.

Correct, but we're way beyond proof-of-concept here, and it's demonstrable that Verizon is no longer technically necessary for precisely the reason you state below:

With VOIP the future would be dialing an IP address instead of a traditional POTS number. But that is still down the road a bit.

Think about it.

You're on an IP "telephone", so you have IP and presumably Web access, which means you can Google. You look up "Joes Pizza, Anytown" and get a result.

If Joe's Pizza *also* has its VoIP IP address associated with that Google directory entry, you're done. Click on the (imagined) GoogleDial button.

Even if you're on a DHCP network with private address space, there's no reason Google couldn't have a small app update the Google directory entry with your IP address every 10 or 15 or 30 minutes. Thus, clicking on your Google directory entry would eliminate the need for a telephone number.

I give it one year or two (max) to go experimental on Google.

Bye bye Verizon.

[neb52]

I am not for sure though that VOIP will be the only option of phone service or the preferred if that. Digital POTS service seems to be just as viable in offering cheap Local/LD phone service while maintaining the traditional telco structure. Comcast and Verizon's FTTP phone service are Digital POTS not VOIP. Its a digital signal routed and controlled based on QoS. No IP packet involved. Also seems to be more reliable for business with Key Switch/PBX systems.

[F-117A]

Bump.

[ikka]

Microsoft is specifically refusing to say either way, whether old XBox games will play on the new system. My guess is "probably not" which means you would have to buy the same games over again.

[chilepepper]

M$ had to look like it was doing *something* innovative before the PS3 blows them and everyone else away when they introduce the PS3 at the gaming trade show coming soon.

with each PS3 sporting 4 (!!!!) IBM CELL chips (*each* CELL w/ a G5 and 8 Altivec processors on steroids) which boils down to what, the theoretical power of 16 or so Opterons?

the XBOX was reported now, (faked like all get out since it wasn't ready) to beat the PS3 gala. if they had tried to roll XBOX out after that, they would have been laughed off the stage...

the author of this piece is pretty ignorant IMHO. the PS3 is designed for everything he claims the XBOX will be able to do, and about 10 times faster, and IT is coming out in just a few weeks... the XBOX is *NOT* the upward bend in the knee by any means whereas the CELL really is. if Apple can stuff the CELL into a MAC, watch out!

[Myrddin]

VoIP phones *are* real phones. And those with cable broadband and VoIP service are completely off the telephone company grid, e.g., not a trace of Verizon in the house.

I don't buy it. The cable company doesn't have long haul digital lines. They buy T1 -> OC16 connectivity from a phone company to host the connections to the internet. The telcos may be out of the class 5 end office switch business for VoIP, but they are still carrying the traffic.

[streetpreacher]

All you need is a phone jack.

I thought all you needed was a broadband connection... otherwise you'd be paying the phone company to use their phone jacks which would be kinda' redundant.

[neb52]

"I don't buy it. The cable company doesn't have long haul digital lines. They buy T1 -> OC16 connectivity from a phone company to host the connections to the internet. The telcos may be out of the class 5 end office switch business for VoIP, but they are still carrying the traffic."

This is partially correct, like SBC and other Telcos/Cable Companies they get their backend from a Tier 1 providers like MCI/Wiltel/AT&T and so forth. Level3 a Tier1 is one of the biggest when it comes to providing a gateway to terminating phone calls from VOIP and Digital POTS. This is the reason why SBC and Verizon are buying out the two biggest Tier1s. Also Cable Companies may not use backends, but have peering agreements to connect their network up with another big network. I would imagine Comcast and Time Warner would be the only two big enough to have that status, but I am not for sure.

[Myrddin]

My company built Level 3 from the ground up. It is a resounding telecom success. We made a bundle on Network Solutions and Bellcore/Telcordia too. Too bad that line of business has petered out. I was having a ball doing telematics for Ford/GM/Chrysler before they started falling on hard times.

[Drammach]

The chip arcitecture of the power PC chip apparently doesn't have the buffer overflow issue that has been used in exploits against machines using X86 CPUs.

That may be what I was trying to say in clearer terms..

As I recall, ( and it's been some years,) was that the Motorola 6809e CPU loaded everything at boot-up, starting at lower (lowest?) memory address, on up..
It was one, contiguous piece of memory, rather than a divided architecture like the x86/x88...

I always liked the 6800/68000 series chips.. ( 68000 was used in the original MacIntosh )
I would have gone Mac instead of PC if it hadn't been for the cost and software development issues...
I still think the Mac is an excellent machine, it's just been habit over the years to continue in the PC tradition..

[Remember_Salamis]

bump

[this_ol_patriot]

If you don't think you won't be able to use this for Office functions within 2 years.... you're blind.

I imagine using Excel with a joystick from across the living room is quite a challenge.

[Swordmaker]

A Bit late PING! Discussion of tech changes coming in the future... but also for XBox running on Mac G5s for demos...

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[general_re]

As far as I know, all new military embedded processors have been PPC for years now, since Intel bailed out of the market five years ago.

Nah. Lot of embedded PPC chips in the military, for sure, but not nearly exclusively. The F/22's avionics are built around a modified i960, as one quick example.

[RinaseaofDs]

I want to say it here first: Longhorn may be a feint. The OS marketplace is about to change, and MS may be moving past it.

The thing about the corporate computing marketplace is that, relative to the home market, its a mess of integration.

There is so much money that can be made from regular joes that hasn't been made yet.

Once an Xbox like device starts to integrate phone, media,logistics, and messaging, it isn't hard to see it extend to the average automobile. If you can have an IPod, why can't your car synchonize itself with the Xbox via bluetooth? Why can't you download mapquest routes to your car's internal navigation system? Why can't the car synchronize itself along the Interstate using WIFI to route traffic off the interstate and on to surface streets in the commute bands? Why can't we say "Chinese" and have the car reply "4 choices within 5 minutes". You then say "best rated" and it vectors you in?

Folks, this is way easier to manage than the 634 applications within a company the size of HP for example.

The ONLY thing my minivan lacks is the real connectivity necessary to make full use of the onboard nav (Nissan Quest).

Add the possibilities that Satellite radio adds and forget it.

Why can't you work on a file at your house, get in the car, realize you've forgotten to transfer it to your laptop, and simply tell the car "Search, Home Office, Third Quarter Sales (followed by a command like) Maybe." Computer comes back with "Three possibles". You reply "Sort by edit date and list". It lists the one you were just working on. You then say "Transmit Last File to ZMobile" Zmobile is the designation of the memory stick that is in the USB port of the car's computer in the dash.

You park the car, pull the memory stick, and walk into the office. Whole thing done using any number of methods (Cell, Sat, or WiFi).

Tolls would be managed by the car's PC. So would gas, car's engine diagnostics, fluid levels, tire rotation warnings.

You could shout a password at the car and the doors would open. Shout a panic word and it calls 911 and opens the external mic and video and transmits mpeg to the police.

None of this is all that hard anymore technologically, and the standards are pretty much all there now.