[geeks] [Fwd: Pixar's new render farm: Linux on Intel]

[wa2egp at att.net]

 Intel-based servers are generally less expensive than
> Unix-RISC-based servers, Gibbs asserted that the conversion is taking
> place because the performance gap between the two types of setups has
> largely been erased, and even reversed for certain functions. 
> 
> "They (film studios) will pay what they have to pay to get the image
> quality," Gibbs said. 

Doesn't that sound a little contradictory?

> Morgan Freeman, for example, lives on an island, but is
> actively involved in Rendezvous with Rama, a coming science-fiction
> film, said Gibbs. 

I've been waiting for that one for a long time.

> The Pixar deal comes amid a spate of shuttle diplomacy taking place
> between Intel and Apple Computer. Both Pixar and Apple share the same
> CEO, Steve Jobs. At Macworld in January, Intel President Paul Otellini
> sat in the front row for Steve Jobs' keynote as a VIP guest of Apple.
> Jobs also gave Otellini a tour of the show floor. 
> 
> Later in January, Jobs delivered the morning keynote address at Intel's
> annual sales conference in Las Vegas. "Andy (Grove) always tries to
> bring someone in from the outside," said an Intel representative. "Andy
> has always thought of Steve as being a quite a creative force in the
> industry." 
> 
> The Intel chairman and Apple's CEO are, in fact, old friends. Still,
> "I'm sure one of the reasons he did it was for the shock value," the
> representative said. 

Now it's beginning to make sense.