Comments on: CEO manages to not comment on termination of graphics division at SGI http://insidehpc.com/2009/08/20/sgi-ceo-no-comment-termination-graphics-division/ HPC news for supercomputing professionals Mon, 21 May 2012 17:48:07 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: SGI have terminated the entire graphics division | SiliconBunny http://insidehpc.com/2009/08/20/sgi-ceo-no-comment-termination-graphics-division/comment-page-1/#comment-181016 SGI have terminated the entire graphics division | SiliconBunny Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:52:43 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=6770#comment-181016 [...] West over at InsideHPC also has a good post highlighting the issues this poses to SGI’s customers. After being told [...] [...] West over at InsideHPC also has a good post highlighting the issues this poses to SGI’s customers. After being told [...]

]]> By: <fb:name linked="false" useyou="false" uid="1175563457">John West</fb:name> http://insidehpc.com/2009/08/20/sgi-ceo-no-comment-termination-graphics-division/comment-page-1/#comment-179014 John West Thu, 20 Aug 2009 17:04:21 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=6770#comment-179014 Chris - Yes, I agree this was probably well advised, as it was when they got out the first time in 2006. But to get back in in a big way, and then leave by sneaking out the back door without telling anyone is a bad way to behave. Well, says me anyway. Chris – Yes, I agree this was probably well advised, as it was when they got out the first time in 2006. But to get back in in a big way, and then leave by sneaking out the back door without telling anyone is a bad way to behave. Well, says me anyway.

]]> By: Chris Heier http://insidehpc.com/2009/08/20/sgi-ceo-no-comment-termination-graphics-division/comment-page-1/#comment-179003 Chris Heier Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:17:45 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=6770#comment-179003 I certainly agree with the view in this article, however, you figure that this would have just been a natural shift in the SGI strategy. If you think about it, even though SGI made its in-roads as a graphics company, they were slowly becoming irrelevant as that kind of expert as more commodity hardware began catching up. You can't just sit on your architectures the way SGI did and hope to turn a profit because some day, someone might just buy hardware because of the SGI name. When I was doing computer graphics 5 years ago, the debate was within the community as to whether to go with an SGI or a regular PC. Almost certainly, people were just going to buy Boxx or Dell or HP simply because for the money, they can get in some cases, an order of magnitude, a better computer. Shift does happen. It happened in such a way that SGI's IP started becoming irrelevant and they couldn't innovate fast enough to keep people interested. The only thing left really is the name. While its IP was worth enough for Rackable to change their name to SGI, is it really enough? I think the decision to drop the graphics division as it was came long overdue. The other graphics powerhouses in the industry that do just that as their core business now have real processing solutions. At least SGI recognizes this and is focusing now towards the utilization of COTS GPUs as part of their portfolio. I certainly agree with the view in this article, however, you figure that this would have just been a natural shift in the SGI strategy. If you think about it, even though SGI made its in-roads as a graphics company, they were slowly becoming irrelevant as that kind of expert as more commodity hardware began catching up. You can’t just sit on your architectures the way SGI did and hope to turn a profit because some day, someone might just buy hardware because of the SGI name. When I was doing computer graphics 5 years ago, the debate was within the community as to whether to go with an SGI or a regular PC. Almost certainly, people were just going to buy Boxx or Dell or HP simply because for the money, they can get in some cases, an order of magnitude, a better computer.

Shift does happen. It happened in such a way that SGI’s IP started becoming irrelevant and they couldn’t innovate fast enough to keep people interested. The only thing left really is the name. While its IP was worth enough for Rackable to change their name to SGI, is it really enough? I think the decision to drop the graphics division as it was came long overdue. The other graphics powerhouses in the industry that do just that as their core business now have real processing solutions. At least SGI recognizes this and is focusing now towards the utilization of COTS GPUs as part of their portfolio.

]]> By: Commentary on the SGI Graphics Division | VizWorld.com http://insidehpc.com/2009/08/20/sgi-ceo-no-comment-termination-graphics-division/comment-page-1/#comment-178994 Commentary on the SGI Graphics Division | VizWorld.com Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:04:30 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=6770#comment-178994 [...] CEO manages to not comment on termination of graphics division at SGI | insideHPC.com. If you liked this story, share it with your [...] [...] CEO manages to not comment on termination of graphics division at SGI | insideHPC.com. If you liked this story, share it with your [...]

]]> By: skip http://insidehpc.com/2009/08/20/sgi-ceo-no-comment-termination-graphics-division/comment-page-1/#comment-178989 skip Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:28:14 +0000 http://insidehpc.com/?p=6770#comment-178989 well said. Thanks for taking a hard look at this. SGI is in sad shape when it comes to rebuilding its corporate reputation - and this is exactly why. well said. Thanks for taking a hard look at this. SGI is in sad shape when it comes to rebuilding its corporate reputation – and this is exactly why.

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