IDF Spring 2001 Part I: Pentium 4 and RDRAM

When Intel's Developer Forum (IDF) first started back in 1997 it was a small affair of about 850 attendees, and lasted about two days. It's most important function was to tell the PC universe what Intel planned to do with its chipsets and boards so that everyone from graphics chip vendors to the guy who was shipping cables would know what they had to do to stay in the PC universe. It was a cozy affair. Lots of engineers and developers milling around. Not too much glitz. No flashy keynotes.

These days, IDF is a geek festival, circus, and rigorously controlled by Intel's spin doctors. It's more enlightening for the stuff you have to read between the lines than anything else. Judging by some of the press coverage Intel has received from this IDF, it's not clear what we should be excited about so, we at THG are going to take a little time over the course of the next week to digest the data, do some follow-up, and try and cover some off-the-beaten-track sessions, too.

In this first report, we will focus on Pentium 4 because, it will have the biggest impact on the PC market this year, and Intel's strategy, particularly in regards to memory has left some of us shaking our heads. In Part II we will cover Intel's view of the computing world, and see whether the company's strategy for handhelds, and peripheral devices is something we can feel excited about. We are also going to look at some of the directions that Intel is giving its OEM partners in terms of what systems they should be building in the coming year. Some of you can probably do a better job of building your own systems than any OEM, and get more bang for your buck than any store bought system, but it's always nice to know what your competing against :)