Intelligence for growth
Published: 23 Oct 2003 12:15 BST
Craig Barrett is on a mission. To keep Intel at the forefront of the microprocessor business, Intel's chief executive poured cash into research and development while institutional investors called for layoffs. That perseverance seems to have paid off. With the tech economy gradually gaining steam, Intel beat expectations and turned a healthy profit during the third quarter.
Now, Barrett, who spoke on Tuesday at an industry conference sponsored by Gartner, is out to prove that the convergence of computing, communications and digital content will help drive an industry resurgence.
Barrett's speech was also a call to arms. Intel's chief executive sees a faulty educational system that does little to teach adequate math and science skills as a major problem that the high-tech economy -- and the nation -- will need to address in the coming years. Among other ideas, Barrett advocates giving foreign nationals who are recent engineering graduates instant green cards, in order to shore up the domestic engineering talent pool.
While most of the world sees high tech as the leading driver of the economy in the coming years, the United States -- and in particular Intel's home state of California -- treats the industry as a second-class citizen, according to Barrett.
Coupled with the growth of Intel's business outside of the United States, that's led the company to place a greater value on its overseas operations.
Barrett sat down with CNET News.com editors to discuss global economic issues, along with how Intel will deliver new technologies and why companies should adopt them.
Q: What will Intel have in store to coincide with Microsoft's introduction of Longhorn, its next version of Windows?
A: The aspects of Longhorn are that it is more secure, and we have talked about some of the technologies we are trying to align. And we have talked about some of the other technologies that we want to bring forward in the future. We try to align our capabilities with Microsoft's capabilities to bring to the user.
How much of a sales driver for Intel will Longhorn be?
Kind of tough to say. You are at least a couple of years away from delivery and a lot can happen.
To put it another way, following Moore's Law, what kind of horsepower would be available if you bought a new machine at the same time that the new OS is out?
I think you will see a variety of technologies provided in addition to the standard more clocks or cycles. I think you will see the integration of technologies, whether it's wireless or some degree of virtualisation, such as Vanderpool. You will most likely see movement probably beyond hyperthreading into the multiple core situations, which are starting at a high level and are cascading down to the desktop.
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