The Hindu : `When I'm 64'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 21, 2003

National

National

`When I'm 64'

Is the huge hype about 64-bit computing for desktop users rooted in a real need?

Apple's India launch today of its 64-bit Power Mac G5 machines makes it the first off the block with 64-bit desktop systems. But less than a month away, AMD is due to launch its own 64-bit chip for the mass desktop market - the Athlon 64 FX. And inevitably PC manufacturers will bring Windows-based machines with this chip to the Indian market before year-end.

While the advantages of doubling the bit string is well appreciated in the high-end sever business, many lay users might ask what they are going to do with all this power under the hood. Obviously if all you want to do is a bit of word processing and some emailing, 64 bit will be an overkill. But Apple, a shrewd trendsetter for 30 years, apparently feels that there are enough users out there — games freaks, image processing specialists, and the like — who will take all that 64-bit processing offers and then ask for some more.

Currently, these machines are priced way above what the average PC owner expects to pay — but two years from now, be prepared to see 64-bit machines costing only a little bit more, with so many goodies riding, that we will wonder how we managed without them. But right now, like that old Beatles song, the PC seems to be asking you and me: Will you still need me,/ Will you still feed me,/ When I'm sixty four?

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National