Anyone here going to buy a Machine ? Or in other words -what is the Machine ?

[ez24]

Just saw a commercial on TV (during the US Open) for a HP Machine (too hot to be outside today).  Looked it up on Google and there is so much crap on it (unreadable web sites) I still do not know what it really is.  Is it a super computer or an expensive desktop?  If super, strange TV commercial (meaningless by the way)

One quote:

HP’s engineers need to create systems of lasers that fit inside -fingertip-size computer chips, invent a new kind of operating system, and perfect an electronic device for storing data that has never before been used in computers.

First time I heard of lasers inside computer chips.  Does anyone know the part number?

Any simple explanation of what this is?    Strange - I thought HP was a dead company.

thanks

[ataradov]

Optical on-chip communication is the next big thing, since we are running into limitations imposed by aluminum and copper.

But as far as I know there is not anything practical in this area yet.

HP ad is probably a "brand awareness" kind of ad. Just to remind people that they still around and produce things other than crappy printers.

[VK5RC]

Isn't it the early advertising for a computer based on the 'memristor'?   The Wikipedia entry attributes its development to one of the HP labs,  got published in Nature so the science must be ok,  lots of PR bumpf on the HP site though.

[imidis]

HP ad is probably a "brand awareness" kind of ad. Just to remind people that they still around and produce things other than crappy printers.

This had me laughing. That is about all they have left now huh? I can't even keep track, they probably still do servers, maybe?

Here is a Machine link

http://www.labs.hpe.com/research/themachine/

[TerraHertz]

Here is a Machine link
http://www.labs.hpe.com/research/themachine/

That is hilarious.

One small detail not mentioned. If The Machine (architecture) is so great, who will it be working for? Individual owners of the machines, or some central corp-gov entity like Microsoft?
We need to fix the political realm first, before anything else.

[ez24]

Is the Machine science fiction?

I am surprised there was a TV commercial.    But as someone said maybe HP's way of saying they are still a company.  But advertising science fiction is a bit too much, viewers will not know this.  I thought it was some sort of product they were selling.

Could it be that HP is getting into the sci-fi business?  Maybe they are going to start a crowd funding campaign.

 

[joeqsmith]

Maybe Keysight will buy them and start branding their test equipment under the HP name again.   

I had a friend who worked for HP before the split.  I remember him telling me about when Carly came on-board.  When she saw the operation she could not understand how HP could make money selling test equipment.    It was not too long after that........

[tggzzz]

One small detail not mentioned. If The Machine (architecture) is so great, who will it be working for? Individual owners of the machines, or some central corp-gov entity like Microsoft?
We need to fix the political realm first, before anything else.

Que? What are you on about?

[tggzzz]

Any simple explanation of what this is?    Strange - I thought HP was a dead company.

There are still some very smart people working in HPE Labs; don't write them off yet.

It is a collection of technologies and ideas thrown together into one project. Whether all will work together, or whether a subset will become useful is to be determined. Don't forget that HPE Labs is designed to push into high-risk areas that don't yet have a commercial application - and they've been successful at it over the decades.

Having said that, the whole thing does have a bit of a smell of internal corporate politics: Labs having to "justify" their existence.

[tggzzz]

HP ad is probably a "brand awareness" kind of ad. Just to remind people that they still around and produce things other than crappy printers.

Don't be silly.

Look at the URL, and start by realising that HP Enterprise doesn't make printers. Printers are made by HP Inc, sometimes known ans HPInk.

[ataradov]

HP Enterprise ... HP Inc

So brand awareness. How many people know (or care) how HP is structured and what they make apart from printers?

[CJay]

One small detail not mentioned. If The Machine (architecture) is so great, who will it be working for? Individual owners of the machines, or some central corp-gov entity like Microsoft?
We need to fix the political realm first, before anything else.

Que? What are you on about?

A quick look at that website makes me think it's talking about cloud memory, therefore it would be accessible to any 'agency' who are empowered or devious enough to investigate.

I agree with the sentiment, the site talks about your entire life being on the 'Machine', I much prefer keeping mine to myself thanks. 

[tggzzz]

HP Enterprise ... HP Inc

So brand awareness. How many people know (or care) how HP is structured and what they make apart from printers?

Wrong again. HPE and HP Inc are two completely separate companies. Look at http://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=NYSE:HPE and http://www.google.co.uk/finance?q=NYSE:HPQ and you will see they have different stocks, different corporate officers, different corporate offices.

Confusing HPE and HPInc is as silly as, a few years ago, confusing HP and Agilent. The latest split was in 2015, see http://fortune.com/2015/10/30/bye-bye-hp/

[Khendrask]

HP Enterprise makes some very high end network switchgear.
Our entire facility is power by HPE network gear, and it is pretty much bulletproof.
I've got a brand new 5406r switch that I am configuring up now on my desk, it is actually much easier to work with then Cisco, and boots up in about a 10th of the time of a Cisco switch.

[JPortici]

Here is a Machine link
http://www.labs.hpe.com/research/themachine/

That is hilarious.

+1
i guess we'll see it on indiegogo this fall

[ez24]

i guess we'll see it on indiegogo this fall

I wonder why there was a TV commercial on something that does not exist and that might never be? 

The commercial is not on YT.  It showed a group of people at a waterfall, looking up at the falls.   And then transparent graphics appeared between the people and the falls.  Then generic claims of what "The Machine" could do.  The first thing that I thought was they were advertising a super computer (which I find odd in a TV commercial).  It was shown during the golf US Open, which I assume is like football's Super Bowl.  So probably a one time commercial.

Very weird

[imidis]

This commercial?

[edavid]

Any simple explanation of what this is?    Strange - I thought HP was a dead company.

There are still some very smart people working in HPE Labs; don't write them off yet.

Isn't that what people said when Itanium came out?

[tggzzz]

Any simple explanation of what this is?    Strange - I thought HP was a dead company.

There are still some very smart people working in HPE Labs; don't write them off yet.

Isn't that what people said when Itanium came out?

Of course.

In HPLabs most projects were expected to "fail". If they didn't then they should have been in the operating divisions.

But if you look at the HP Journal, you will see that many remarkable advances did come from labs. And that's why the shouldn't be written off yet. But always remember to kick the tyres!

[continuo]

This commercial?

Redshirts!

They're doomed 

[ez24]

This commercial?

Yes this is it

[tom66]

My guess is this is HP's answer to IBM Watson.

No special chip, just thousands of servers.

[rrinker]

 I think this is something a bit more than just another massively parallel supercomputer.

There are pretty much two ways forward: improve the parallelism of current technology, or come up with a new type of technology. We've gone from electromechanical logic through vacuum tube logic to germanium and then various iterations of silicon and other logic - either we stall here or we come up with something new.

[daqq]

I'd hazard a guess at the composition:

70% buzzwords
20% hype
9.8% misc. marketing
0.2% silicon

[tggzzz]

My guess is this is HP's answer to IBM Watson.
No special chip, just thousands of servers.

Look more deeply; it is far more than that. Some have said that it also encompasses a software environment as well.

Don't presume it will all work in its grandiose entirety, but some aspects may be a sufficient advantage that they get taken up.