Rambus Inc.: I Think it's Offficially Out of Hand

[paulcs]

http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20000929S0023

Who will they sue next?

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[RAB]

It seems that the only company they haven't sued is - you guess it - Intel. Hmmm, I wonder why!!

RAB

p.s. doesn't Intel use the same syncronous bus as AMD? Too bad there isn't some equal protection right in tort law. Or is there? I'm not a lawyer.

[Thundrchez]

They haven't sued my company yet. They should know that they are in for an extremely ugly fight if they do sue us.

It is a disgrace to the entire silicon industry to have a company of lawyers with zero silicon design talent sueing everybody that they can.

If they lose their lawsuit, they will be reduced to nothing. IMHO, they are a lifeform lower than pond scum.

[dZeus]

they adopted a new slogan, so watch it!

"Rambus: Soon available at your lawyer too"

[Joel]

Found this over at www.amdzone.com

"I thought this was a cool idea... although I highly doubt it will do anything. Something needs done for sure. I encourage you to go sign this Petition to stop Rambus."

www.petitionpetition.com/cgi/petition.cgi?id=792

Joel

[RAB]

BOYCOTT RAMBUS!!!

RAB

[The PIT]

Of course if they keep on sueing everyone will they be able to afford to pay all the lawyers.
Nice headline "Rambus sues then goes bust"

[isochar]

The reason they haven't sued Intel is because Intel is has a strategic alliance with Rambus. (Duh)

If AMD or Transmeta make official releases that they will have RDRAM chipsets in the coming months, I bet Rambus will drop the lawsuits.

I don't like what Rambus is doing either, but it is not Rambus's fault. It's more of a fault of the capitalism system.

Every corporation does this sort of thing, Rambus is not alone. Recent big-name companies that come to mind are Intel and nVidia.

I'd really want to see the Government create an agency to handle all the disputes, instead of going to our legal systems. This agency would be supported by regular funding from all the corporations. (Say .01% of revenue) It would also be able to handle corporate lawsuits immediately. (Due to specialization)

This way the corporations don't make ludicrous lawsuits to stall competition. It'll also force them to keep their money in R&D instead of spending it on lawyers

[Jammrock]

isochar, RAB,

Pretty much. I wouldn't be surprised if Intel is paying for Rambus' lawyer squad. Intel has given Rambus several cash injections for Rambus stock, so Rambus is partially owned by Intel. That's why they don't get sued.

All,

I don't know why AMD and Transmeta are caving in while Micron is fighting it, tooth and nail. I think AMD and Transmeta should join Micron and make it a class action lawsuit. The justice system won't take Micron that serious if they are the only people fighting Rambus.

BURN RAMBUS BURN!!!

Jammrock

------------------
Athlon 650, Biostar board, 128 MB PC133 (Crucial), G400 32 MB DH, SB Live! w/ Digital I/O, 10/100 NIC, lots of case fans, etc...

[isochar]

Although everyone is jumping on the "Kill Rambus" bandwagon, I see some fault to it.

The problem is that Rambus has a good technology in their hands (the RDRAM, not the SDRAM and DDR ) It hasn't shown its usefulness quite yet, but I expect it'll show up with the P4. (once that's out)

If Rambus gets hit by a major class-action lawsuit, their stock will plummet and Intel will probably eat up the rest of the company.

I see some advantages to this, but at the same time I don't want to see Intel with the intellectual property rights to EVERYTHING on the motherboard.

It seems Rambus is pretty much in Intel's pocket now, in a year it'll be a different story. RDRAM will be cheap, everyone will be using it, and Rambus won't need Intel anymore. (so to speak) So you'll see them lose their ways...

Oh, and as far as all those companies caving in. They all just make a "bottom-line" judgement. The legal fees to fight Rambus cost more than to pay off Rambus. Not to mention if they did fight and lose, they'd be paying twice. Only reason Micron is fighting is for ethical, moral, social reasons.

It doesn't really matter what Micron produces, they'll make money on any memory.

[This message has been edited by isochar (edited 02 October 2000).]

[Wombat]

Right now, Intel is having enough troubles with Rambus. They are bound by contract to make pretty much only RDRAM boards. This has messed them up so badly that they're been in talks with Via to have Via make MB chips (Via! They were just trying to bury this company a few months ago).

I really don't think RDRAM is all that great, and SDRAM or something else will catch up quickly. And as for RDRAM getting cheaper, that's also not very likely. Anyone that goes into making RDRAM has to completely retool the fab, and RDRAM yields are still crap. You can't test a chip until the entire RIMM is made, and they are unrepairable if defective.

[isochar]

I agree that at this point in time RIMMs aren't all they've been made out to be. However, like I said before, I think that they'll show they're worth when the P4 debuts.

I can't say I'm 100% sure on this, but it seems that serial data transfers are the wave of the future. (Serial ATA, RDRAM) So there has to be a reason that they are being chosen over previous technologies.

As far as production and yields are concerned, the firingsquad article with the Rambus seems to invalidate what you said.
(Unless you were referring to speed yields)
http://firingsquad.gamers.com/featur...us55/page3.asp

Rambus IS getting cheaper. I see generic 128mb RIMMs selling for about $250. Just half a year ago I remember them selling for $800.

Food For Thought:
If DDR SDRAM is superior and cheaper, why does the PS2 and N64 use RDRAM? (I think the X-Box is also supposed to use it)

[This message has been edited by isochar (edited 02 October 2000).]

[Pertti]

Originally posted by isochar:
I can't say I'm 100% sure on this, but it seems that serial data transfers are the wave of the future. (Serial ATA, RDRAM) So there has to be a reason that they are being chosen over previous technologies.

Sure there is a reason, but the question is, do we, the (power) users, get any benefit in using those ?

Why did everyone go from serial to parallel in the first place ?
Does the data in serial cable travel faster than in parallel cable with laplink ?
If heat is already an issue, should we actually start embedding our rimms in ice in the future ?
Does it actually have any other benefits than, simpler design, and thus lower production cost of some components like motherboard etc... (note production costs, not retail price) ?
Did the king really have new clothes ?

[This message has been edited by Pertti (edited 02 October 2000).]

[AlgoRhythm]

isochar,

I think a big reason people are on the "Kill Rambus" bandwagon, is that they pulled some under-handed stunts to get where they are to be suing people. I really couldn't care less about their technology.

Bottom line is this: They were a part of JEDEC, which makes standards for RAM. Being a part of JEDEC means you sign a contract that you won't patent the stuff they are making into a standard. Well, Rambus DID, and left JEDEC, and now is suing everyone.

The short version: Rambus SUCKS.

AlgoRhythm

[Thundrchez]

I don't know why AMD and Transmeta are caving in while Micron is fighting it, tooth and nail. I think AMD and Transmeta should join Micron and make it a class action lawsuit. The justice system won't take Micron that serious if they are the only people fighting Rambus.

Jammrock, if Rambus sues my company, they are in for the fight of their lives. We make it a point not to cave in and settle out of court even if it would cost us less than fighting the lawsuit. They have been very careful not to pick on my company so far. Rambus will crumble because they don't have anything "real".

Their patents are invalid as any sane person can judge. Put to the test, Rambus is a failure.