Intel to launch Inside magazine?

Though we've asked them for information such as target audience, distribution model and likely cost et cetera, presently we have no other details.

The press reception for Pentium 4 inExtreme Edition and the new Prescott core P4's has been rather lukewarm to say the least, so we're wondering whether Intel will be publishing their own reviews from now on.

Intel definitely understands the benefit of kindly worded reviews. In another lifetime I worked for a systems integrator whose business model was predominantly based upon the success, or otherwise, of PC systems sent to magazine for editorial review.

Intel approached my employer and asked me whether it could assist in "positioning" our systems for review i.e. helping us select the magazines to which we would send our systems.

When I asked for its proposals as to which magazines these might be, I remember not being surprised that Intel's preference was for us to send systems to magazines that favoured using the prevailing version of BAPco Sysmark as a benchmark too.

Furthermore Intel offered to assist us in configuring our Intel processor based review systems for "optimum performance". This, it was suggested, could be achieved by sending our review systems to Intel UK headquarters, where they could inspect and adjust our configuration.

I thanked this hapless Intel rep for his kind offer of assistance, but said, er, no thanks.

At that time there was widespread controversy regarding the use of BAPco Sysmark and whether it disadvantaged AMD processor based systems.

I then asked him whether he agreed with my suggestion that surely the most credible editorial endorsement would be achieved by a) seeding systems to a magazine that focused on a mix of benchmark tools, and b) should not systems sent to magazines for review truly reflect what end-users purchase?

I can't recall if I ever heard from him again. µ