Quocircas Straight Talking: Itanium – whats in a name?
By Quocirca, 6 November 2006 15:35 COMMENT Is Intel and HP’s Itanium processor fatally holed below the waterline, justifying its ‘Itanic’ nickname, or can it weather the stormy waters? Quocirca’s Dennis Szubert dusts off some nautical history books and sets about explaining the parallels… Reminiscent of Titanium, the incredibly strong yet lightweight element, it was perhaps not too surprising that soon after its less-than-stellar launch Itanium was rechristened “Itanic” by wags, after the ill-fated White Star liner Titanic. The symbolism present in these rival names is perhaps worth exploring. Depending on who you talk to, Itanium is either fatally holed below the waterline and taking in water fast, or else happily afloat and like the Good Ship Lollipop travelling to a candy land where bonbons play on the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay. An abundance of hype accompanied the launch of both Titanic and Itanium. The former was designed to compete with Cunard’s fast Atlantic liners and in
