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On Saturday, 18 May 2019 02:25:58 BST Frank Steinmetzger wrote: |
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> At some point in the future, my stationary PC will require a hardware |
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> refresh. At that point I will say goodbye to Intel. This is the only |
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> language companies understand. |
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Yes, Intel has been permanently erased as an option for any future computer |
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purchases of mine. |
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However, in the current oligopoly of hardware suppliers and their market carve |
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up, there isn't much/any choice for the retail consumer. The only CPU which |
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does not come with ME/PSP hardware backdoors built-in by design, is the |
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POWER9, which is an expensive server CPU. No choice for laptops. |
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Unless big OEMs like Apple start exerting pressure on the CPU manufacturers to |
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secure their designs, I can't see them changing their strategy just because an |
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infinitesimally small number of users stopped buying their products. |
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> They’ve been getting ahead by developing |
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> features without due diligence and by cutting corners. And this is biting |
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> them in their behind now all the way back. |
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It's not just a matter of cutting corners and trying to remain competitive by |
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being first to market with shoddy products. They have also consciously |
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decided to incorporate <aheam!> co-processors (OOB hypervisors) in their |
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chips, with no option of physically removing these, or at least fully |
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disabling or replacing the proprietary firmware blobs they have been running. |
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The concept of 'secure computing' with today's market offerings is increasing |
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showing itself to be an oxymoron. |
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-- |
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Regards, |
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Mick |