Facepalm of the Day: Intel charges customers $50 to unlock CPU features

[ShyWriter]

Facepalm of the Day: Intel charges customers $50 to unlock CPU features

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | September 19, 2010, 5:46am PDT

Summary

Sometimes it seems that companies do something

so monumentally bone-headed you have to wonder

whether anyone is awake at the helm and OKing

these crazy moves. Today brings word that chip giant

Intel is allowing OEMs to sell CPUs with certain features

locked - that the customer can unlock by paying $50

for a software code.

_________________________________

Sometimes it seems that companies do something so monumentally bone-headed you have to wonder whether anyone is awake at the helm and OKing these crazy moves. Today brings word that chip giant Intel is allowing OEMs to sell CPUs with certain features locked - that the customer can unlock by paying $50 for a software code.

The CPU is a Pentium G6951 and the scheme works like this. OEMs sell suckers consumers a computer featuring a CPU that has some features disabled (in the case of the G6951, 1MB of L3 cache and HyperThreading is disabled). Customers buy a card that contains an unlock code, visit Intel

[mountaintree16]

wow...

This is what I have to say about that...

alkdfjlkajflkasdjfakjdfjaldf@#$%&*^%@!%$#!uf@&I&^$^&@^(%##@&$djflkajfkladf

[mad056]

I would not pay $50. Intel is now making alot of bad marketing choices and if they dont straighten there belt they will loose a lot of Costumers.

[Haider]

Steve:

Many thanks for the post and link

mountaintree16:

Tried Google Translate to interpret, but in vain

[mountaintree16]

@Haider

lol it's random gibberish & symbols Doesn't actually technically mean something...

[Haider]

REALLY?

[mountaintree16]

Well I wasn't quite* sure if you knew that... sorry

[Haider]

No big deal mountaintree16 just relax!

[ShyWriter]

@Haider: That was just MT16 expressing her innermost feelings and thoughts concerning INTEL's lack of class as well as can be expressed on a family-accessible Forum system. Kind of an extension of that is what shows cursing expressed in cartoons as, "%^^$#@!" Except MT16, being a lady, doesn't really curse.

~Shy

[Haider]

Steve:

Well, well, well, now you are using my shoulders, to vent yourself on Intel

[ShyWriter]

Steve:

Well, well, well, now you are using my shoulders, to vent yourself on Intel

I actually own stock in the company and their actions *still* seemed a "shoot themselves in their foot" type of deal.

But I'll accept the offer of standing on someone else's shoulders to give my venting extra height ANY day.

~Shy