[Post-Neolithic]

Lower prices isn't bad. However Intel is a snake in the grass. They have screwed over customers more than once. First on the CPU problem that had a bad math processor(they refused to recall until the outcry became so bad they were on the brink of going belly-up), next when they made it possible for a hacker to get your personal information just my querying your CPU.

I haven't knowingly bought an Intel product in years.

[1010RD]

You are correct. But, we have a judicial framework to fight egregious harm. Plus, your post has brought the situation to my attention and the attention of every FReeper who reads it.

That is how the free market works. I am not a computer chip expert. I rely on them, someone like you possibly, to keep me on my guard. I am now on guard against Intel products. I will ask all my geek friends about it and assess the risk based on my feelings/the facts.

Look up “market mavens”. They are a tiny minority with an incredibly myopic focus, but they act as market makers/informants to protect the rest of us.

My point is individual liberty, of which a free market is fundamental (free as in you/your choice), works!

[DB]

Huh?

I don’t remember Intel ever on the “brink of going belly up” and any “personal information” security issues lie with software not the processor hardware even with the embedded hardware ID. Any number of hardware devices in your computer have a unique ID number from the flash BIOS storage devices on up.

AMD has not kept up with technology changes. Intel has significantly superior CPU’s these days even for gaming. You are welcome to pay more for less but I choose otherwise.

[LayoutGuru2]

Well that was so ‘nineties’, Intel eventually caved on the PSN.

A History of Privacy Issues Intel Pentium III Processor Serial Number
http://www.cdt.org/privacy/issues/pentium3/

CPUID - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPUID#EAX.3D3:_Processor_Serial_Number

Querying the PSN does not give a hacker direct access to your personal information, but it can be used to make it easier for a hacker to individually identify your computer.