Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight • Hacker News Board

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#341

Post by taneq » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:27 AM UTC

floatrock wrote: post #334

taneq wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's precisely the "issue", and it's only a problem if you make it a problem. The early-adopter and rapid-early-development churn is slowing down because processor technology is maturing and has reached full market penetration, so the market for new devices is shrinking. It's like a hotdog stand calling it a "market crash" when they've sold everyone a hotdog and nobody's hungry after lunchtime. The automotive indus…

Ain't that a bit sad, all that energy and pollution going towards planned obsolescence so that he with the shiniest toys wins? There is some legitimate utility derived from novelty -- I don't want to be walking around in my grandfather's battered rags either -- but I wonder if some day we can shift towards something more sustainable and less paying to dig consumerist holes then paying again to fill them back in.

Yeah, I never went in for replacing things just for the 'new car smell'. That's probably why I drive a nearly-30-year-old car. :)

The point about your grandad's battered rags is that they're battered rags, though, not that they're old. His good leather jacket is probably still perfectly serviceable today.

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#342

Post by dbcooper » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:27 AM UTC

api wrote: post #278

dangero wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting point. If we are witnessing the end, would we recognize it at the time? Moore's Law has been something we've become accustomed to, so it almost seems hard to believe that it will end even if we are told that it will. Makes me wonder what research money will be spent on instead of just faster chips.

Worst case scenario: nothing. The R&D goes away. Look at aerospace for a nightmare scenario. In the early 20th century we got fixed wing flight. In the teens and 20s we got motorized fighters and the first passenger planes. In the 40s we got jets. In the 50s we broke the sound barrier and orbited Sputnik. In the 60s we landed on the Moon. In the 70s we... stopped going to the Moon. In the 80s nothing much happened ex…

There's no carbon on the moon. Pretty challenging for a human settlement.

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#343

Post by matwood » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:33 AM UTC

duderific wrote: post #317

bduerst wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, mobile hasn't figured out a good way to take over the workspace. Some of the tablet/laptop hybrids are getting closer. As for entertainment though, are you watching Youtube extensively on your desktop?

I know this sounds crazy, but there are still some people who have cable subscriptions and watch TV on a TV. Oh the horror!

Those TVs are now 'smart' along with cable boxes and other peripherals. Is Intel Inside any of those?

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#344

Post by exbluebadge » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:35 AM UTC

JamilD wrote: post #19

I wonder if this is related at all to the Altera acquisition, and how many of those employees will be affected. Intel had to give up a lot of cash, and take on quite a few redundant employees…

What do you need to efficiently run an artificial neural net? A great mass of configurable simple cells. Sound familiar?

So it's possible the current C-suite actually know what they're doing, and Intel's disfunction is concentrated in the middle layers of territorial empire builders. Krzanich, if you're reading, lay off everyone between you and the front-line managers. I know that'll be a lot more than 11%, but still.... Replace them with employees chosen at random; you really can't do worse than what you have now.

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#345

Post by nsxwolf » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:36 AM UTC

twoodfin wrote: post #308

nsxwolf wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A relative few Silicon Valley elites living like kings while everyone else lives in a tiny box trying to raise their families on their meager Basic Income stipend doesn't sound like a utopia to me.

How does that work? If I have a meager income I'm not buying an iPhone or a desirable target for ads from Instagram.

Apparently it works just as djslumdog says -- people like him/her will continue doing the small amount of important work that can't be automated, and will be compensated handsomley to do so. They will fly around the world, enjoying vacations, live in large homes, eat lavish meals.

Everyone else will live in 100 square foot apartments in Soviet-style concrete bunkers, eating ramen (or possibly Soylent). But they won't need to work! They'll spend their entire day painting and composing music!

A lot of people here push this vision, and of course they always imagine themselves to be part of the elite. It really is insufferable.

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#346

Post by true_religion » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:42 AM UTC

jhulla wrote: post #286

maaku wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That may have been your point, but it's not what you said. "Perfectly valued" means that the price is what it should be (for some definition of "should").

"Perfectly valued" to me means that at that moment, the price reflects the actions of everyone. It includes the actions of all buyers/sellers who choose to participate and not participate, the regulators, as well as the meddlers. My point is a pedantic one referring to the OP using the word "overvalued". The market price is never over/under valued. It is merely the market price at that moment.

Your definition of price and value, while correct to a certain standard, give no illustrative power nor does it lend itself to analysis or discussion.

As you said, it is merely tautological.

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#347

Post by _qbjt » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:43 AM UTC

shostack wrote: post #160

_qbjt wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I asked a friend who worked at Intel and he said part of it has to do with the company's hiring and organizational structure. The basic gist is that people are brought onto teams that only exist long enough to fulfill their initial objective. While some teams are dedicated to long-lived consumer product lines, others might focus on R&D or custom B2B orders. Once a team has fulfilled its responsibilities within the la…

Is this a similar issue to what was reported about Amazon getting rid of people after their product launches (even if successful)?

I'm not aware of what you're referring to. The most recent series of layoffs at Amazon was due to poor sales of the Fire Phone [1][2]. Most companies in Amazon's position would have done the same thing.

[1] http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/08/fire-phone-flop-blam...

[2] http://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-curtails-development-of-c...

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#348

Post by hueving » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:43 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #251

cheald wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless these folks had degrees in Working At Intel, losing a job is not the same as becoming permanently unemployable. Job loss sucks. But it's pretty hyperbolic to say it's destroying peoples' lives. Particularly for skilled workers, finding a new job isn't all that far out.

> Unless these folks had degrees in Working At Intel, losing a job is not the same as becoming permanently unemployable. A 50 year old Intel employee might find it quite difficult to get a new job any time soon. Not to mention that where they live they'll have some other thousands ex-colleagues recently fired looking for similar type of jobs. We're talking about thousands of people -- few of them will be highly sough…

You paint a contrived scenario and then lament it. What is the purpose?

Where do you have stats showing all of these job cuts will happen in the same location? Where are the stats that show when a person loses their job, their spouse is also likely to lose their job?

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#349

Post by denim_chicken » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:44 AM UTC

jhulla wrote: post #286

maaku wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That may have been your point, but it's not what you said. "Perfectly valued" means that the price is what it should be (for some definition of "should").

"Perfectly valued" to me means that at that moment, the price reflects the actions of everyone. It includes the actions of all buyers/sellers who choose to participate and not participate, the regulators, as well as the meddlers. My point is a pedantic one referring to the OP using the word "overvalued". The market price is never over/under valued. It is merely the market price at that moment.

Your point sucks.

Re: Intel to Cut 12,000 Jobs, Forecast Misses Amid PC Blight

#350

Post by mark-r » Wed, Apr 20, 2016, 1:47 AM UTC

a3n wrote: post #314

mark-r wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Moore's law may become irrelevant long before it becomes invalid. Without rapid increases in usable computing power, the reasons for upgrading have largely disappeared. In particular the chips at the top of the profit margin curve, where Intel loves to play, are much less compelling. Intel might eventually find itself in the same shoes Kodak did - when your primary business dries up, there's unlikely to be a follow-o…

> Without rapid increases in usable computing power, the reasons for upgrading have largely disappeared. 1. Force Windows 10 upgrade. 2. Windows 10 sucks on this computer! 3. Buy Windows 10 compatible computer.

Microsoft's not stupid, they realize that people are keeping their computers longer than ever. They're also trying hard to make Windows 10 run on the widest range of machines possible. So I think it's a priority of theirs to make sure it doesn't suck. They don't want a repeat of Windows XP where nobody upgraded!