AMD has just had its annual IT Industry Analyst conference in Berkley, California. Lots of interesting conversations and great feedback.  The bottom line for me was that – after spending three days together - most analysts are confident (if I can use a nautical analogy) that we are back in control of the boat. Makes a change from people thinking the boat had control of us. They may want us to be clearer as to where we are taking the boat, but at least we have control!

A couple of the best conversations were around the ideas of differentiation and features. Moreover, how complex the PC market has become for most consumers. As technologists we get very excited about all the ‘bells and whistles’ but most people outside our industry have no idea what we are talking about.

For a prime example of what I mean, search the Web for a particular clip from an 80’s BBC TV show called “Not the Nine O’clock News.”  Trying searching using the word ‘Gramophone’. It shows a shop assistant mocking a customer about how little they know about buying a new stereo. I wonder if the modern shop assistant would be that smug about all the features of our PCs today?

It must be nearly impossible for non-technical people to make a choice out of the tens or hundreds of machines they have on the shelf of their local mega-PC shop. I believe that, as an industry we need to make that easier for people.

I do have an example of how this sort of problem affected me. When I was buying my first washing machine I was faced by the challenge of not really knowing the difference between the various choices. I had never bought one before – always used the one provided or had my mum do it! I studied the machines for a while and just didn’t know what to choose. Was the cheapest good enough or would it be missing the key features? If I went for the top of the line model, would I be paying for things I would never use?

 A friendly shop assistant came up to me and asked if he could help. I said he could and asked what the difference between the two machines in front of me was. He studied them for a few seconds and then he read the details on the cards in front of each of them. “About $100 sir,” he said.

Nigel Dessau is senior vice president and chief marketing officer at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD's positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links sites and no endorsement is implied.