I just read here about the slow decline of Transmeta and its risk of closing its doors for good.
I first heard on Transmeta when the hype around Linus Torvalds’ decision to work there started. I checked their web site and continuously monitored their progress because I really thought they had something good going.
They actually innovated the industry and left their mark. You can see it in all the various power consumption technologies that all the big players (Intel, AMD and IBM) have produced since.
I personally was able to get a hold of a reference board with a Crusoe TM5800 1Ghz and its simply a marvelous piece of electronics capable of doing the same stuff as a 1.8Ghz Mobile P4 with half the heat emission and even less than that power consumption.
This translates into may thing in the real world that should not be taken lightly such as:
- Less power consumption = Less electricity used = Less polution.
- Less heat emission = Less noisy fans (and again less power consumption) = Less noise polution.
This is actually a piece of technology that can help the environment. Just think about it!
I read in the article that companies like Sony, Fujitsu and NEC licenses the LongRun2 technology but non of them rolled out anything with it.
I do hope that the industry won’t let the technology and innovation in this field die. Hopefully, one of the big players in the market (IBM, Intel or AMD) will be smart enough to buy the Transmeta IP so that everyone of us could benefit.