So basically this: www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop with Intel instead of ARM CPUs, a lot more funding, the possibility of the pin spec changing every 5m or just being plain discontinued, and closed source?
That looks like it is closer to the now-deceased Intel Compute Card. Except with even less IO(no SATA or PCIE options), and limited IO was one of the things that people didn't like about Compute Cards.
The IO now limited by what it plugs into, more like a cpu. Think of this as the CPU, GPU, RAM, Northbridge. It connects to any number of options for the other half of the motherboard - Southbridge, storage, pcie etc. I can totally see students taking this to and from school in a CD case, having the docking station at home and school, be it a notebook style device or a nice desktop style setup, or both at different times/places/needs.
I don't want one, but people into tech with money is not even close to who this is aimed at... It's not the dumbest idea ever. It's much better than the idea of a corporate docking a Smartphone into a dock and somehow expecting a decent desktop experience.
But TV makers would rather sell you an entirely new TV. Also, display technology is continuing to improve.
IMO, this is more suitable for industrial equipment, which often has a much longer service life and where the cost of the compute module would be relatively small. This assumes they have versions with ECC memory, of course. And in that case, it's probably less a matter of needing upgradability than simply ease of serviceability and replacement of failed modules.
Agree. Having a U class Intel CPU in a "SMART TV" would make an AIO with a large 4K screen an interesting reality. Windows or Linux are (still) far more capable OS than the current Android or WebOS flavors.
> Intel indicated that education market-targeting notebooks built upon the NUC Compute Element will become available in early 2020.
The idea of making kids' notebooks upgradable is pretty laughable. I'd imagine kids are pretty hard on those things. I doubt most would even survive to their second upgrade. Meanwhile, in a high-volume product, the extra costs of using these modules will be non-trivial, not to speak of the extra bulk and weight.
Nice try, Intel, but ARM is sewing up the education market right in front of your eyes.
The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Is it the CPU and ram the kids are breaking? No, it's the screens and cases. Imagine they smash their machine, pull the card out and slot it into another laptop dock the school has a pile of to share with the kids while at school (and have another dock at home). They carry their secure data and compute in something like a CD case. Maybe I spend too much time in the corporate world but it seems to me like it could work in education....
This is gonna be EOL the same way their Joule/Galileo/Edison stuff because nobody cares. Fucking rageberrypi compute module has more traction than any intel shit ever released.
I have wanted this for many years, both in notebooks and in smartphones, where the life cycle of the compute core, the batteries and the screen/ports/case were evidently not related.
In my case the exterior tends to last forever, at least since the backlights no longer used cathode ray tubes. In the case of my kids, it’s typically the opposite.
We both never get what we want from batteries: Those have a life of their own—the ability to change them should be the law everywhere on the planet.
So why am I not immediately excited that Intel finally seems to deliver?
One thing that needs serious change today is the physical abstractions of PC design: Case in point PCIe 4.0 and APUs. The hard-wired PCIe lane allocations make less sense than ever, now that APUs are seriously growing in power but also lane bandwidth has doubled on the high-end.
PCIe needs to play with signal rates and perhaps levels instead of lanes to accommodate changing notebook power scenarios, which may go as high as eGPU and as low as iGPU.
The best things that can be said about Thunderbolt is that it now shows that with USB4 every other form of USB should be pushed outside the computer core, into a docking station if really needed: I seriously hope they don’t waste contacts for USB 2/3, HDMI or the other tons of legacy interfaces PCs carry around. It should just be bundles of PCIe lanes (or better yet, InfinityFabric), and a docking station does the rest.
BTW nothing wrong with a docking station looking like a notebook, a NUC or whatever form factor you like.
That’s where I’d get really excited. And of course, AMD, ARM, RISC-V and whoever else talks PCIe/IF/CCX should be free to join an open, loyalty free and well documented standard.
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1_rick - Monday, June 3, 2019 - link
"Inclusive of the connector sticking out of the card""Including the connector..." is a better phrasing.
ballsystemlord - Monday, June 3, 2019 - link
So basically this: www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktopwith Intel instead of ARM CPUs, a lot more funding, the possibility of the pin spec changing every 5m or just being plain discontinued, and closed source?
Lord of the Bored - Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - link
That looks like it is closer to the now-deceased Intel Compute Card. Except with even less IO(no SATA or PCIE options), and limited IO was one of the things that people didn't like about Compute Cards.ballsystemlord - Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - link
I'm one of those people who wanted more IO so I did not back the project nor will I buy this from Intel.danielfranklin - Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - link
The IO now limited by what it plugs into, more like a cpu.Think of this as the CPU, GPU, RAM, Northbridge.
It connects to any number of options for the other half of the motherboard - Southbridge, storage, pcie etc.
I can totally see students taking this to and from school in a CD case, having the docking station at home and school, be it a notebook style device or a nice desktop style setup, or both at different times/places/needs.
I don't want one, but people into tech with money is not even close to who this is aimed at...
It's not the dumbest idea ever. It's much better than the idea of a corporate docking a Smartphone into a dock and somehow expecting a decent desktop experience.
ksec - Monday, June 3, 2019 - link
You had me excited for modular computing just before the possible Mac Pro announcement. Looks like this has nothing to do with it.pixelstuff - Monday, June 3, 2019 - link
Seems like this would be ideal for smart TVs if they could keep the connector stable for a decade or more while increasing the CPU and RAM ability.Fergy - Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - link
It is mostly the software that needs to be kept up2date in TVs. Any soc with A53 or higher is fine.mode_13h - Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - link
Not fine for adding support for newer codecs, like AV1. But, HDMI sticks are already a reasonable solution for that.mode_13h - Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - link
But TV makers would rather sell you an entirely new TV. Also, display technology is continuing to improve.IMO, this is more suitable for industrial equipment, which often has a much longer service life and where the cost of the compute module would be relatively small. This assumes they have versions with ECC memory, of course. And in that case, it's probably less a matter of needing upgradability than simply ease of serviceability and replacement of failed modules.
eastcoast_pete - Wednesday, June 5, 2019 - link
Agree. Having a U class Intel CPU in a "SMART TV" would make an AIO with a large 4K screen an interesting reality. Windows or Linux are (still) far more capable OS than the current Android or WebOS flavors.AsParallel - Monday, June 3, 2019 - link
Cool! Now I have something to put my Intel compute cards on top of :DEventually I'll have a ziggurat of products they gave up on.
mode_13h - Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - link
> Intel indicated that education market-targeting notebooks built upon the NUC Compute Element will become available in early 2020.The idea of making kids' notebooks upgradable is pretty laughable. I'd imagine kids are pretty hard on those things. I doubt most would even survive to their second upgrade. Meanwhile, in a high-volume product, the extra costs of using these modules will be non-trivial, not to speak of the extra bulk and weight.
Nice try, Intel, but ARM is sewing up the education market right in front of your eyes.
danielfranklin - Tuesday, June 18, 2019 - link
The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Is it the CPU and ram the kids are breaking?No, it's the screens and cases. Imagine they smash their machine, pull the card out and slot it into another laptop dock the school has a pile of to share with the kids while at school (and have another dock at home).
They carry their secure data and compute in something like a CD case.
Maybe I spend too much time in the corporate world but it seems to me like it could work in education....
timecop1818 - Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - link
This is gonna be EOL the same way their Joule/Galileo/Edison stuff because nobody cares. Fucking rageberrypi compute module has more traction than any intel shit ever released.abufrejoval - Tuesday, June 4, 2019 - link
I have wanted this for many years, both in notebooks and in smartphones, where the life cycle of the compute core, the batteries and the screen/ports/case were evidently not related.In my case the exterior tends to last forever, at least since the backlights no longer used cathode ray tubes. In the case of my kids, it’s typically the opposite.
We both never get what we want from batteries: Those have a life of their own—the ability to change them should be the law everywhere on the planet.
So why am I not immediately excited that Intel finally seems to deliver?
One thing that needs serious change today is the physical abstractions of PC design: Case in point PCIe 4.0 and APUs. The hard-wired PCIe lane allocations make less sense than ever, now that APUs are seriously growing in power but also lane bandwidth has doubled on the high-end.
PCIe needs to play with signal rates and perhaps levels instead of lanes to accommodate changing notebook power scenarios, which may go as high as eGPU and as low as iGPU.
The best things that can be said about Thunderbolt is that it now shows that with USB4 every other form of USB should be pushed outside the computer core, into a docking station if really needed: I seriously hope they don’t waste contacts for USB 2/3, HDMI or the other tons of legacy interfaces PCs carry around. It should just be bundles of PCIe lanes (or better yet, InfinityFabric), and a docking station does the rest.
BTW nothing wrong with a docking station looking like a notebook, a NUC or whatever form factor you like.
That’s where I’d get really excited. And of course, AMD, ARM, RISC-V and whoever else talks PCIe/IF/CCX should be free to join an open, loyalty free and well documented standard.
Ok, I don’t think it will happen…