Ashlee Vance over at The Register is reporting on IBM’s letter to customers announcing its Power6 pricing model. He calls it “bat-shit crazy.”
Power6 server software will require 120 Processor Value Units (PVUs) per core. That’s up from 100 PVUs per core with the dual-core Power5 chips. In something resembling humanspeak, this means you’ll have to pay for 1.2 software licenses per core, which is great if you buy software by the fifth. IBM has assured customers that the .2 premium is worth their while.
…IBM concocted the PVU concept last July, after struggling for years to come to terms with multi-core chips. The giant is not about to sacrifice lucrative software revenue just because improvements in chip making let vendors squeeze more cores on every CPU.
So I’ll be the first to admit I don’t run a multi-billion dollar international company. But that pricing model looks really hostile to consumers. Or bat-shit crazy. Yeah, that one.
“Bat-shit crazy” might be an understatement.