Does conflict free minerals affect your decision to buy Intel CPU?

[john5220]

Intel spends a lot of money and resources on going down this path. Just marketing? do they have to go this distance?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVBRFhjMEtI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZDsNXtM-rk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27CwLkb33Zo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-e07NuBmP0



here is the videos, seems rather touching.

I especially like the part where the rough and hard African hand is holding up that intel chip in the African mountain looking at it in pure amazement.

Like Terminator Sarrah Conner chronicles when she took out the chip and looked at it against the sun in amazement. You just can't help but feel the integrated circuit is an amazing invention?

 

[john5220]

Let us assume in some small chance, tomorrow AMD released a CPU that performed a little better than intel and cost a little less.

But by buying intel you would be supporting the lives of these people and making a massive difference for these people would you still buy the AMD over the intel knowing the time and money intel spent in the pursuit for conflict free minerals when they could have easily had it cheaper and not care?

 

[SoulWager]

If AMD produced a better product, I would buy it. The only company I currently boycott on ethical grounds is Nestle, and that's hard enough to keep track of.

 

[tential]

Let us assume in some small chance, tomorrow AMD released a CPU that performed a little better than intel and cost a little less.

But by buying intel you would be supporting the lives of these people and making a massive difference for these people would you still buy the AMD over the intel knowing the time and money intel spent in the pursuit for conflict free minerals when they could have easily had it cheaper and not care?

I wouldn't purchase it? Because it's not a significant upgrade from my 4770k to warrant the purchase.

If I was building a new rig? I'd purchase it. AMD workers gotta eat too....

 

[john5220]

^ good point so the question remains is this campaign intel is on is even worth it in their favor?

Does not seem like its going to benefit them one bit. But then in many ways that is supposed to be the point of it right? doing the right thing as they claim not for their benefit but for others.

 

[Ramses]

I seem to hear a lot about dwindling supplies of precious metals and such that go into electronics becoming more and more rare. That makes me ponder what sort of kickback and from where Intel gets for this, and if it's true. But I'm a pessimist.

All things being equal though, unless I had evidence otherwise yes it would inflict my buying decision. I still buy AMD when I can since it's fast enough and I figure they need the money more than Intel. When I can throw a wrench into capitalism, I do so. Bad enough I gotta be neck deep in it for a living.

 

[tential]

^ good point so the question remains is this campaign intel is on is even worth it in their favor?

Does not seem like its going to benefit them one bit. But then in many ways that is supposed to be the point of it right? doing the right thing as they claim not for their benefit but for others.

I'm also not a typical consumer. I couldn't care less about advertising. You seem to really keep up with it a lot more and seem to care what color things are. The only thing I care about is "Does this do the task I need it to do?"

Anything else I couldn't care less about.

 

[RaistlinZ]

I would not care.

What about the minerals in your smartphone? What about your monitor? Or any of the other countless electronics in your home? I don't have time to research and reassess every single thing I purchase.

 

[Kalessian]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-licensing#Consumer_purchasing_decisions

 

[frozentundra123456]

I buy the product that best suits my needs at the price I want to spend. If I can also buy one that helps the environment such as a fuel efficient car or a computer that uses less power, that is a secondary benefit. I dont really worry about the ethics of the company, because I simply dont have enough information to make a decision. They cynical part of me also believes that most corporations are pretty much the same in the final analysis.

 

[john5220]

I'm also not a typical consumer. I couldn't care less about advertising. You seem to really keep up with it a lot more and seem to care what color things are. The only thing I care about is "Does this do the task I need it to do?"

Anything else I couldn't care less about.

Yes color and names affect my buying decisions a lot.

There is something about the word Skylake and Cannonlake being CLEAN.

If I hear Bulldozer I hear mud, landfill and trash etc. When I see blue intel I feel cool, blue reminds me of the sea or the sky. A red chip reminds me of heat and fire which is bad

Then the intel ads make me feel superior in many ways.

so I will admit it, other stuff does influence my buying decisions. And this new intel conflict mineral free ads seem to intensify that part of me. Even though for many years I never gave 2 squats about that African continent and their issues, and was hoping it would disappear for good.
sort of weird after this intel ad I suddenly feel to care. hmmm

 

[tential]

Yes color and names affect my buying decisions a lot.

There is something about the word Skylake and Cannonlake being CLEAN.

If I hear Bulldozer I hear mud, landfill and trash etc. When I see blue intel I feel cool, blue reminds me of the sea or the sky. A red chip reminds me of heat and fire which is bad

Then the intel ads make me feel superior in many ways.

so I will admit it, other stuff does influence my buying decisions. And this new intel conflict mineral free ads seem to intensify that part of me. Even though for many years I never gave 2 squats about that African continent and their issues, and was hoping it would disappear for good.
sort of weird after this intel ad I suddenly feel to care. hmmm

Are you serious?
Not trying to be a dick I just don't know if you're being sarcastic

 

[john5220]

I am very serious and I can tell you there are many others like me. You would be amazed at the reasons people buy a product and stick to a particular brand.

You buy CPU etc based on strictly performance charts. My buying decisions go beyond that, we are all different.

 

[tential]

I am very serious and I can tell you there are many others like me. You would be amazed at the reasons people buy a product and stick to a particular brand.

You buy CPU etc based on strictly performance charts. My buying decisions go beyond that, we are all different.

I'm genuinely curious and utterly fascinated to know that these types of things effect people at the "enthusiast" level.
Learn something new every day I guess.

 

[CHADBOGA]

The issue of conflict minerals being used or not, doesn't factor into my buying decisions.

 

[Ramses]

Are you serious?
Not trying to be a dick I just don't know if you're being sarcastic

That's all 50 year old marketing 101, if not older. I use the same language BS to sell or not sell people stuff every day. And I'n not even a very good salesman.

Note that AMD isn't red and fiery and exciting for no reason either.
Red sports cars and motorcycles, blue four door sedans and minivans, etc, etc.
Though neither are my taste, AMD sure seems to work a heck of a lot
harder at the younger/gamer demographic than Intel.
I think it's interesting still, but kudos to intel for putting that cute little skull on
that ssd the other year. Not sure if it was to scare grownup business customers into more expensive products or to try and attract kids.

 

[Spungo]

I don't really care how many blood diamonds are in my computers. We already have a solution to human slavery - it's called giving everyone an AK-47. Unfortunately, most people in the world are strongly pro-slavery and refuse to do this, so we're stuck in a situation where 10 guys with machetes can sack a whole village, enslave the men, rape all of the women, and take the children as soldiers. It would be impossible to do this if the village was heavily armed. More guns also would have stopped the genocide in Rwanda. The Tutsi minority were safe as long as armed UN guards were around. As soon as the armed guards got on helicopters to fly away, the Hutu stormed in and massacred people with machetes.

If anything, PR like this makes me dislike Intel because they're assuming we're all idiots. Slavery will end if we just stop buying their products? Yeah, I bet. People have been saying they'll stop shopping at Walmart for the past few decades and it hasn't worked yet. What else will we not buy from Africa? Their oil? Their coal? Copper? Iron? Gold? Diamonds? Are we supposed to embargo the entire continent and hope it turns into Cuba? Last time I checked, Cuba still sucks. The embargo clearly doesn't work, and it hasn't worked for the last half century. Doing something that we know doesn't work then pretending to care about Africans for the sake of selling products is beyond disgusting.

 

[Ramses]

If anything they need more money, not less. Lay a little profit and capitalism and a walmart or three on em and they'll tow the line lol...

 

[tential]

That's all 50 year old marketing 101, if not older. I use the same language BS to sell or not sell people stuff every day. And I'n not even a very good salesman.

Note that AMD isn't red and fiery and exciting for no reason either.
Red sports cars and motorcycles, blue four door sedans and minivans, etc, etc.
Though neither are my taste, AMD sure seems to work a heck of a lot
harder at the younger/gamer demographic than Intel.
I think it's interesting still, but kudos to intel for putting that cute little skull on
that ssd the other year. Not sure if it was to scare grownup business customers into more expensive products or to try and attract kids.

I understand this. I just didn't know enthusiasts would care.

 

[Ramses]

Enthusiast is a lot broader brush than it once was.

 

[Conscript]

I actually prefer my minerals go through a little conflict before making their way into my CPU. I find it makes them tougher and generally better over clockers

 

[Spungo]

I actually prefer my minerals go through a little conflict before making their way into my CPU. I find it makes them tougher and generally better over clockers

Knowing that children were murdered for the diamond on this ring means you really do care about me :wub:
(millions of people literally believe this)

 

[StrangerGuy]

Yeah, if you subscribe to the theory that exploited people will simply stop being exploited just because you cut their income to their masters...

Frankly this sort of naivety is more horrifying IMO.

 

[Ramses]

I call it feel-good logic. People get upset when I explain it, so I don't.

 

[john5220]

But can we rule out that intel is doing this solely for marketing?

What about the people who work at intel who claim to do this out of the goodness of their heart? intel must surely know that people are buying CPUs based on price to performance ratio?