Theos-Talk Archives (October 1997 Message tl00304)

ramadoss@eden.com wrote:
> Several months ago, Intel was the target when it had distributed bug ridden
> chips and it was the incessant barrage from dedicated users which made them
> relent and accept the fact and take action to replace. Initially Intel's
> position was that the user had to demonstrate they have a problem with the
> chip in the applications they use the computer for. It even ended up with
> IRS issuing a notification that no one can claim that their tax return info
> was erroneous due to the buggy chip!

	Your message shows the power of the media over truth. The error in
Intel chips was so tiny, that if someone had a tax return of billions of
dollars, any error caused by the chip would have been less than a penny.
Unless you were using your computer for work with quantum mechanics,
space travel, or astrophysics, the error was merely an academic
curiousity, and would never touch anything you did. It's sort of like
having a Ming Vase with a tiny chip on the inside, near the bottom. Yes,
there is a flaw, but if you didn't know it was there, it would never
affect your enjoyment of it. 

	Maybe a couple of hundred people were affected by the flaw. Intel
rightly did not wish to have to replace millions of chips to fix the
problems of a couple of hundred. So they tried to ensure that those who
wished the chip replaced did so because they ran applications where the
error made a difference, not because they thought it was a K00L thing to
stick it to the chipmaker.

	Bart Lidofsky