Keith, Re: AMD64 is a bad idea and would fail in the marketplace.
I might have said this back in 2001 when AMD first announced x86-64, but there was much evidence between then and now that convinced me otherwise (the Microsoft announcement clinched it for me, but we both know that Sanders had to sleep with Bill Gates to make that one possible). Without the benefit of foresight, it looked to a lot of people that AMD would not succeed in transitioning the industry to their own instruction set, when they even failed to do so with a simple multimedia extension like 3DNow. What worked in their favor was Intel's hesitance in bringing their own x86-64 to market, when a definite market segment for low cost 64-bit was already forming. We know that Intel did invest in a 64-bit x86 ALU development as far back as the late 90's, so it's not like AMD thought of it first. They simply took the risk and managed to sell the 64-bit story to the media and press, which helped convince a lot of people that they needed 64-bits sooner. With the exception of certain server tasks, 99% of workloads can be completed without a >32-bit memory space; although, people or this forum would have you would think that 32-bit processors are obsolete already. That's simply not the case, for all pragmatic intents and purposes. Claiming anything else is simply an exaggeration.
Re: I think you are a very poor sport by claiming my arguments were just wishful thinking. INTEL didn´t choose AMD64 because of my wishful thinking. It seems to me you´re trying to weasel out of your predictions.
I don't weasel out of anything. Given the information I had at any given time, I think I had the right mind set. Immediately after AMD's first announcement, I think skepticism was warranted. AMD had no track record for being able to sell a new technology to the industry. I would say the same holds true up until the Microsoft announcement, but I suppose different people would have had their own opinions of when the scales tipped in AMD's favor. Claiming that you had any kind of special vision, even from the very beginning, I think is weaseling on your part. Even those with an inclination to believe in AMD's approach should at least admit that it was a long shot at the very best. Your gloating comes from definite hubris, and it does not prove that you are good at making such calls in the future.
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