Where is the HD content?
First, let me preface my comments by stating I am not an engineer and don't understand all the technical aspects of this CPU/GPU. But I can read and I will quote from
Sony's press release and
others in answer to your questions.
GFLPraxis said:
You're still not showing why it will be useful to the consumer. Some good quotes for you:
"Sure, the Cell will probably have a huge number of vector units but most work on the PC side is done by integer and floating point operations. SIMD/vector operations are not as common, especially because such things are hard to do."
"Specifically, the companies confirmed that Cell is a multicore chip comprising a 64-bit Power processor core and multiple synergistic processor cores capable of massive floating point processing. Cell is optimized for compute-intensive workloads and broadband rich media applications, including computer entertainment, movies and other forms of digital content."
I would say that describes a lot of Apple's technologies very well. Don't you? The issue here is how application will be developed to take advantage of this type of processing power. But it is application development that spurred me to my earlier posts with respect to the Powermac. Apple Pro applications (Final Cut Studio) are state of the art and Sony needs these.
GFLPraxis said:
Yes, rendering would see quite a boost, but it's not something that enough Mac users do to increase the costs of Apple CPU's by that much, which is why it would make more sense to sell it as an accelerator like Durandal suggested, much like the old x87's. "
"Only in VERY select pro applications. Why do you think someone hasn't done this before? Why did the drive to use GPU's for software besides games largely fail? Because it's a lot of silicon that isn't going to be of much use outside of HPC."
"Ever take a look at the design philosophy of the PowerPC 970? It excels at unoptimized code. The Cell ... excels (heh) at highly parallelized code, in other words, code that was written for it.
Putting a Cell as the CPU in a PowerMac would be akin to putting just the AltiVec from a G4/G5 core as a CPU. It's good at a very limited set of things. That doesn't make it bad or anything, but just because it's "scalable" doesn't mean that it can do everything under the sun equally well."
"IBM, Sony Group and Toshiba are collaborating on the design and implementation of Cell which is expected to deliver vast floating point capabilities, massive data bandwidth and scalable, supercomputer-like performance."
Sounds good to me. Supercomputer-like. I like the sound of that. Sounds like marketing for the G5. Perhaps these chips can't compare with current chip technologies with the way current applications are implemented, but I am reading into these comments that there is a new development paradigm about to take place that will take advantage of the Cell unique characteristics
I quote from my other source:
"According to Petrov Group, IBMs GHz U-turn, away from frequency and toward System-on-Chip integration and memory density, will have profound consequences for all major players in the digital entertainment, enterprise computing, and semiconductor industry sectors. It could lead to
mass extinctions and the emergence of new vendors and businesses; it will profoundly change the landscapes of entire industries and create new configurations of business innovation, productivity, and added value. The changes are imminent although still poorly, if at all, understood.
This year the era of entirely new organic-like computing technology is starting. It will be based on software-enabled computing cells. These building blocks will be highly integrated and super-dense, have very low power, and will be cost-effectively produced in ultra-large volumes. Perhaps most importantly, it will be software, rather than hardware, that will fuel the computing performance of the new systems, Mr. Petrov said.
What the Petrov Group is getting at is a completely new way of creating applications which take advantage of this processor's capabilities, which by the way, he is indicating that very few people understand yet. I take solace in believing Apple engineers understand all to well what it's capable of. So, without answering the technical aspects of your question I will punt by speculating that "software-enabled computing cells" means something no one has seen yet, but will change the way software applications are engineered. This in turn will lead to new and exciting breakthroughs in computer technology and IBM is the one holding the bag.
Oh, and "mass extinctions" I believe refers to Microsoft.
So you see, this suggests that the Cell chip is a whole new way of developing applications and implementing technologies. But the technologies in question (media content creation) are Apple's core strength.
But there is more. Hmm, can't get a current G5 in a Powerbook because of heat? How about the new Cell multi-core Powerbook? And with precise processor clock control to enable power savings? Doesn't seem implosible to me.
GFLPraxis said:
The only feasible application a Cell processor would have in Macs would be as some sort of dedicated media processor for high-end workstations. You won't be seeing Cell-based PowerMacs."
Exactly what is a "high-end workstation" if not a Powermac? Here is where your argument seems to be at odds with what is being published about the Cell. First, Sony is going to develop a Cell based workstation:
"The Cell processor-based workstation will totally change the digital content creation environment," said Masayuki Chatani
Digital content creation environment? I would say that describes the Apple Powermac's primary function perfectly. So, exactly how the Cell helps with this I can't say difinitively, but it seems from the sources I quoted above that it involves a whole new way of implementing software and developing media content. Here is the rub of my contention. If Sony is going to create a new "Workstation" what software for content creation is going to run on it? Why reinvent the wheel? And can they more to the point? Apple already has the state of the art media content creation suite--it's called Final Cut Studio. A Sony branded Apple Powermac? A HP branded iPod? Who would have thunk? Didn't we hear that major PC makers are after Apple to license OS X? I think we did, and guess who's at the top of the list?
"Sony Corporation expects to launch home servers for broadband content as well as high-definition television (HDTV) systems powered by Cell in 2006.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. also expects to launch its next generation computer entertainment system powered by Cell to revolutionize the experience of computer entertainment. "
Home servers for broadband content? Can we say MacMini? What software will run on them? Something from Microsoft? Not a chance. Something Sony will create? Now why was Ando on stage at the keynote? This is why. Apple software and Apple workstations for creating this new digital entertainment content for Sony TVs and Playstations is a marriage made in heaven (or Cupertino).
So will we see Cells in Powermacs and Powerbooks? I believe we will after Tiger is released. How does this benefit the consumer. Isn't it obvious? Apple software running on these new media products to interact with new HD media content benefits consumers, and Apple Powermac/Powerbook workstations running some form of Cell technology to develop said content benefits develepers--like me.
