AMD supplies the DNA to save the ecosystem from Intel

ATTENDEES AT THE ICT WORLD FORUM at CeBIT today were treated to a keynote address by AMD CEO Hector Ruiz, in which the great man stressed the need for technology to become useful to business, rather than to go on developing for its own sake.

He said: "Software and silicon have become the 'plastic and steel' of today's economy." Quite what he meant by that isn't clear to our inquiring minds, but he did also say: "The information and communication technology industry is rapidly becoming the DNA of every industry - and changing the competitive dynamics of everything it touches."

But we don't quite understand that bit either.

Still, warming to what we think was his theme, Ruiz offered a warning: "We, as an industry, must move away from technology advances for the sake of technology advances. We must ground every aspect of our business in delivering true, customer-centric innovation through the migration to a connected business model."

Hold on. Here comes the point: while some (cough!) competitors might innovate for the hell of it, AMD has been assiduously innovating for the benefit of its customers. Look, for example at the clever idea of producing a 64-bit chip capable of running 32-bit code. Said Ruiz, "It became very clear to AMD that if we are going to meet evolving user needs, we must free users from the limitations imposed by today's 32-bit processors, but also allow them to take advantage of all the current investment and energy dedicated to today's 32-bit processing platform,"

"Based on this customer feedback, AMD designed its upcoming next-generation 64-bit-capable AMD Opteron and AMD Athlon 64 processors to provide a graceful and seamless upgrade path for everyone in the ecosystem."

So, just when the ecosystem was looking completely firked, along came some chips to save the planet. I think that's right, isn't it Ed? [Yup, that's right Halesie. Ed.] µ