I've been 'dieing' to tell you
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 17, 2005 11:03 AM EST- Posted in
- Anand
In the past, we only dealt with single core processors with a single die, and life was simple. But now as the transition to dual core takes place, we inevitably have some chips that have multiple cores on a single package, that aren't always on the same die - thus we had to start referring not to a singular die, but a plural form of the word.
Of course there was some debate over what the proper plural form of the word 'die' is (when referencing a processor core). We've been using "dice", which we have used in discussions with engineers and have seen used in numerous internal documents from all sorts of chip manufacturers. In order to make sure we were in the right on this one, we sent out emails to all of our chip making friends, starting with Intel, and let them choose from die, dies and dice as the appropriate term. So far, it looks like dice wins :)
(oh and the title of this post is a horrible horrible pun, things like that should not be allowed)
Tuan sent me the motherboard after he finished taking it apart, and I just got it today for a video conference I'm doing with Johan and the university he works for. There are a number of interesting aspects of the Xbox 360 motherboard, so if I have time between now and the webcast I may take some up close and personal shots of the motherboard and piece together an article about things that I find interesting about it.
Tomorrow is the day I get to find out if my Xbox 360 is going to be in NC for launch or not, so I am a bit anxious. For whatever reason it seems like a lot of console gamers hate PC gamers and vice versa, I don't see why we all can't just get along and enjoy both :) I will say that today, for the GPU power than you get in the Xbox 360, it is a bargain. At $299 for the base system (if you can find one), you get a GPU that is arguably at least as powerful as the GeForce 7800 GTX and potentially even more depending on the situation. I will also admit that some of the shock and awe of how powerful this system was at its initial announcement has faded, since PC GPU technology has had several months to play catch up, but the Xbox 360 today gives me a much more confident feeling that it is future proof than the original Xbox did when it was just days before its launch. It could be because the 360's GPU is more obscure and difficult to compare to a conventional PC GPU, but it's definitely something I've noticed.
The $600 notebook roundup I mentioned a few weeks ago is basically done; time permitting I'm going to try to finish the writing today and see if I can get the review out before I leave for NC for the holidays on Tuesday. I was pleasantly surprised by most of these notebooks, $600 will actually get you a decent machine and not something that feels like it's from a street vendor.
To switch gears a bit, I am excited about the potential for Yonah based Apple iBooks in January as we've reported on our News page. The article quoted comes from Thinksecret, and in the news post one of our readers took issue with a quote in the article that always bothers me as well. In the Thinksecret article, an analyst is quoted as saying that Apple needs to have a 15"+ iBook that is more competitive with PC notebook pricing; he then follows by saying "Consumer notebook buyers don't want less than 15-inches."
The problem our reader and I have with this statement is that it seems to always be this way about notebooks in the US. It's the reason we don't get the ultra ultra tiny notebooks that you see in Japan. Whenever I meet with manufacturers that are OEMs for a lot of the notebook makers, they are always under the impression that PC notebook users want huge desktop replacements or fairly hefty mid sized notebooks but not super thin and light offerings. While I can't argue with the sales figures, I will say that there are at least some of us in the US market that do want something ultra portable. Companies have gotten better about bringing the US ultra small notebooks, but the mentality is still that the market here doesn't want them, which is bothersome.
Of course there was some debate over what the proper plural form of the word 'die' is (when referencing a processor core). We've been using "dice", which we have used in discussions with engineers and have seen used in numerous internal documents from all sorts of chip manufacturers. In order to make sure we were in the right on this one, we sent out emails to all of our chip making friends, starting with Intel, and let them choose from die, dies and dice as the appropriate term. So far, it looks like dice wins :)
(oh and the title of this post is a horrible horrible pun, things like that should not be allowed)
Tuan sent me the motherboard after he finished taking it apart, and I just got it today for a video conference I'm doing with Johan and the university he works for. There are a number of interesting aspects of the Xbox 360 motherboard, so if I have time between now and the webcast I may take some up close and personal shots of the motherboard and piece together an article about things that I find interesting about it.
Tomorrow is the day I get to find out if my Xbox 360 is going to be in NC for launch or not, so I am a bit anxious. For whatever reason it seems like a lot of console gamers hate PC gamers and vice versa, I don't see why we all can't just get along and enjoy both :) I will say that today, for the GPU power than you get in the Xbox 360, it is a bargain. At $299 for the base system (if you can find one), you get a GPU that is arguably at least as powerful as the GeForce 7800 GTX and potentially even more depending on the situation. I will also admit that some of the shock and awe of how powerful this system was at its initial announcement has faded, since PC GPU technology has had several months to play catch up, but the Xbox 360 today gives me a much more confident feeling that it is future proof than the original Xbox did when it was just days before its launch. It could be because the 360's GPU is more obscure and difficult to compare to a conventional PC GPU, but it's definitely something I've noticed.
The $600 notebook roundup I mentioned a few weeks ago is basically done; time permitting I'm going to try to finish the writing today and see if I can get the review out before I leave for NC for the holidays on Tuesday. I was pleasantly surprised by most of these notebooks, $600 will actually get you a decent machine and not something that feels like it's from a street vendor.
To switch gears a bit, I am excited about the potential for Yonah based Apple iBooks in January as we've reported on our News page. The article quoted comes from Thinksecret, and in the news post one of our readers took issue with a quote in the article that always bothers me as well. In the Thinksecret article, an analyst is quoted as saying that Apple needs to have a 15"+ iBook that is more competitive with PC notebook pricing; he then follows by saying "Consumer notebook buyers don't want less than 15-inches."
The problem our reader and I have with this statement is that it seems to always be this way about notebooks in the US. It's the reason we don't get the ultra ultra tiny notebooks that you see in Japan. Whenever I meet with manufacturers that are OEMs for a lot of the notebook makers, they are always under the impression that PC notebook users want huge desktop replacements or fairly hefty mid sized notebooks but not super thin and light offerings. While I can't argue with the sales figures, I will say that there are at least some of us in the US market that do want something ultra portable. Companies have gotten better about bringing the US ultra small notebooks, but the mentality is still that the market here doesn't want them, which is bothersome.
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johnsonx - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
Sorry, doesn't matter what the chip guys want. DICE are the cubes you use to play craps in vegas (or Atlantic City for you east coasters), DIES are computer chips (and other sorts of engineering widgets). Period.gamigin - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
Wikipedia says "dies": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_%28manufacturing%...">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_%28manufacturing%...Try Googling "sheet metal dies"; lots of results.
Try Googling "sheet metal dice"; 2 results for indian casinos.
I don't care what some Microsoft engineer told you; "dice" is wrong.
3sgte - Friday, December 9, 2005 - link
You make 2 good points.One is that engineers alone should not be relied on for naming. Often engineers are very narrowly focused, and may not be conscious of the misinterpretability. Often, engineers are also not strong linguistically.
How many engineers consider translators and people who read material in their second language?
Also, you make a good point about the use of Google. Google can be an excellent tool to determine regional usage, also which of two usages is most common, and in what circumstances. Care needs to be taken when forming the queries, or the results may be deceptive. (read your results, don't just count)
I also tend to agree that "dice" is not suitable in this case...
By far, the most common usage of dice is gaming cube thingies.
I am familiar with "dies" as a plural in other manufacturing industries.
DCstewieG - Friday, November 18, 2005 - link
Dictionary.com agrees with you. I believe in this case 'die' falls under (1)die
n. pl. dies or dice (ds)
1. pl. dies - A device used for cutting out, forming, or stamping material, especially:
a. An engraved metal piece used for impressing a design onto a softer metal, as in coining money.
b. One of several component pieces that are fitted into a diestock to cut threads on screws or bolts.
c. A part on a machine that punches shaped holes in, cuts, or forms sheet metal, cardboard, or other stock.
d. A metal block containing small conical holes through which plastic, metal, or other ductile material is extruded or drawn.
2. pl. dies Architecture. The dado of a pedestal, especially when cube-shaped.
3. pl. dice
a. A small cube marked on each side with from one to six dots, usually used in pairs in gambling and in various other games.
b. dice (used with a sing. verb) A game of chance using dice.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=die">http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=die
creathir - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
The notebook manufactures are TERRIBLE about this. I remember the ultra thins were a big thing about... 5 years ago, then they disappeared. It is impossible to find a quality ultra thin notebook these days. I'll tell you, the Tablet PC has got to be one of the greatest ideas I have seen in a long, long time, yet so many manufactures SCREW IT UP. Such as, Gateway with their "first ever 14" tablet"... I do not want a 14" tablet; I want a 12" tablet that weighs less. Every other tablet manufacture creates these GASTLY machines that really have little to no style behind them. There is Toshiba, but it does not have a built in DVD-ROM. What use is that to anyone? If I am plopping $2200 down on a tablet, I want it to be able to at least entertain me slightly while riding on the airplane. Notebook manufactures are focused on the "portable desktop" market more than they are on the notebook market totally, and this I think, is going to bite them in the rear at some point. To me, I see the market working itself into a corner with little room to move. All it will take will be a solid notebook with speed and style that is lightweight, and everyone else will be at a complete disadvantage in the market.- Creathir
mlittl3 - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
And that "solid notebook with speed and style that is lightweight" might just be the notebooks that come out of Apple with Pentium M processors. There is a huge possibility that the marketing behind the portability and style of the iPod might translate directly into the type of notebook people want. Apple might have a boom in notebook sales similar to the iPod sales boom and just like the portable digital music player market, "everyone else will be at a complete disadvantage in the market." Apple sort of did this kind of marketing with the iMac by saying things like "From the makers of the iPod, the all new iMac." I guess they are going to do something similar with their Pentium M notebooks.By the way, great post Creathir!
creathir - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
That is very possible... though so far they are not much better...If I remember correctly, they were the first ones with a 17" screen....
- Creathir
michael2k - Friday, November 18, 2005 - link
They released the 17" at the same time as the 12", were they not?And when they did release the 17", didn't they still keep that thing under 7lbs?
And prior to the release of the 17" Powerbook, did they not have the 12" iBook that later became the model for the 12" PowerBook?
Apple has a pretty good record of making 'portable', if not ultraportable, laptops. We'll see what they can do with a Yonah :)
creathir - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
But they certainly could hit it from the style point.- Creathir