CJ, Re: Still, your thesis is that the consumer was able to recognize the value of Centrino over AMD in the notebook market, something that isn't supported by the evidence.
You mean the sales numbers isn't evidence enough?? Centrino surpassed nearly all projections made on it from Intel or the analysts. It has nearly eclipsed Pentium 4 in the overall mobile market, which is heavily weighed by many technically informed businesses. That is proof bar-none that Centrino has a value associated with it, and that end users have come to recognize it.
Re: I am not saying that the consumer is dumb. They didn't seem to buy into the Centrino ads showing how you could access the Internet wirelessly on remote, windswept mountain tops...
The mountain shown in the Centrino ad did indeed have a wireless access point at the base. It is believable that a wireless access point can be purchased and placed almost anywhere, and that's what the commercials have tried to convey.