AMD Is There When Intel Breaks Your Heart

Any holiday is an excuse for tech companies to send out little reminders to those likely to write about them, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. CNET reports on a few of the nice and not so nice gifts they received this year.

“During the first half of today, only one V-day swag package arrived, and that was a box of Mortal Kombat candy, encased in an edible chocolate box. This was shortly followed by a somewhat more mysterious package–a single rose, wrapped in paper, hand-delivered from a local florist. Except, this rose seemed a bit off. It was dark red, almost black, and had an odd scent. A dead rose? A poisoned flower? The only clue to its origin, a note quoting Edgar Allan Poe. Clearly some sort of teaser item for a video game, but off the top of my head, I’m not sure which one. Also–a dead rose is terrible for Valentine’s Day regifting. Finally, the guys at AMD joined the party with a ceramic mug with an I [heart] APU logo, touting the combo CPU/GPU platform known as Fusion, and currently found in laptops such as the HP Pavilion dm1.”

While the chocolate processors were a nice idea and the ceramic mug was rather plain in my opinion, what caught everyone’s attention was the card included. The message reads:

Dear Dan,

I heard that Sandy B. broke your heart and wanted to let you know that I’m here for you. Oh, and I have a cousin from Llano, Texas I’d like to introduce you to soon–I think you two will really hit it off!

XOXO,
AMD Fusion APU

The reference is to Intel’s recent Sandy Bridge problems, which are leading to delays in shipping next-gen Intel PCs (leaving the field open for AMD in the meantime), and AMD’s upcoming Llano platform for mainstream laptops. While this can be taken as being kinda harsh, I find the gift to be refreshingly funny. Maybe Intel should come back with a President’s Day gift proclaiming they depend on making changes instead of selling hope.

Source: CNET.com