Does the fact that companies need to spend a larger amount of their budgets on security take away from spending on other areas?
I don't think so. What we spend on security is like a tax. It's the infrastructure. You get benefits from the capabilities. Does the benefit outweigh the cost? I say yes. Security is in the press a lot today, but we will get over that and we will put out better hardware, and Microsoft will put out better software. People will get more intelligent on how they guard against these things. We're still in the infant process on this whole thing. To assume that you are going to stop today because there are new vulnerabilities is kind of naive in my mind. The world is not going to stop. You can choose to, but you will be left behind.
Is there a point at which the security tax is too high?
We're a pretty homogeneous environment at Intel. We're probably as big of a target as any in the world. It's not an unbearable burden for us to carry at this stage. Would I wish to get more net benefit out of this capability to overcome that tax? Yes. Would I stop deployment of new technology? No. Do I like it? No, but we are still learning.
How long before we see the Trusted Computing platform supported on multiple systems?
I think it will take longer than most people anticipate. Maybe in the five- to 10-year range.
What do you say to people who say Intel is out there pushing Moore's Law but have a 600MHz machine and say they are doing just fine?
If you look at the convergence of computing, communications and digital content, and you think 600MHz is enough, that's fine. I'll take my 3.2GHz machine over your 600MHz any day. If I'm into rich content, data mining and multitasking, [I need more].
What's your take on the telecoms? Obviously it's a core part of your business.
I think they are still struggling with two things: the movement to more standard building blocks that will lower the cost of telecommunications. The other thing is the competitive environment. That comes in two categories -- rules and regulations, and the battle between the wire line and wireless guys and the cable guys. And you can add voice over IP. They are trying to deal with how to grow if the revenue per user goes down. You grow by adding new services, but you have to do that at the same time that people are coming in and trying to undermine your basic business model. At the same time, the government says that if you make an investment, you have to share. So they are kind of between a rock and a hard place.
