More on Mactel

I just read an eWeek article that suggests that networking as much as the other cited factors may have contributed to the switch: TNC (Trusted Network Connect protocol)[grew out of the MS Trusted Computing idea] uses a number of ways to authenticate the supplicant trying to join the network, one of which is the hardware Trusted Computing Module bolted on to TCG-compliant computers. Now, here's where the trail starts to heat up. The TCM won't be available on non-Intel machines any time soon, since it uses Intel silicon to implement the functions needed. If you want to play in a TNC-defined network, you need to be on Intel hardware (at least for the near term). This combined with all the ink that has been spilled about Intel becoming more of a platform developer (with Centrino as the start of the process) that has appeal for Apple, things are starting to make more sense. Networking is a big part of ubiquitous or pervasive computing (there may be another term for it, but I can't seem to remember it now). If Apple wants to get the Mac established into the living room, the network is the key. Once it's in the living room, all sorts of things start to change in terms of how the computer is used.