Reading reactions around the web; AMD is facing the same nonsensical and unfair criticism they always have. The following is my facetious attempt to incapsulate what I have read being posted about this launch.
Our tale opens with the knowledge that it has been a long and arduous journey for our much maligned underdog to get to where they are today. Here, look in this crystal ball, back to 5 years ago, to forums all over the kingdom! Do you see it? It's rampant speculation about how the underdog is done, put a fork in them. Lots of talk of who might buy their farm, or if their farm would be discharged to pay debtors. Things looked very dark indeed.
You see kids, once upon a time, there was a long period of unquestioning rule by a Giant. And what did the giant do most of the time? Tick tock, it would use its clock, year after year, meeting out small increases in crops, with unchanging numbers of bushels. Adding a few more bushels for a crazy mark up and calling it gourmet. Meanwhile obfuscating the trinket market to the point where peasants where buying overpriced 2/4 trinkets! All because of one of the giant's most powerful incantations; it had an i7 sticker on it! But the peasants would shout "Please giant, may we have some more"?!?
Now as the legend has it, if you stood up and lamented about any of those foul deeds, a horde would appear, chanting about how it was actually the underdog's fault! "That's right! The underdog's farm goods are trash, so the giant can get away with whatever it wants", they would chant! "Why," they would say, "if only the underdog would rise up and fight back, The giant would have to offer more for less." "Yessss!" they would hiss, "think about it!"
Well, one day, as the giant lounged around, too lazy to even whip the servants for failing in their duties, the underdog rose up and started fighting back! Trading blows with the giant. A new vigor about him. No longer could the giant keep him from bringing his produce to market. The underdog's goods were fresh and tasty, and the prices were fair. Many peasants started to buy from the underdog. The underdog even made enough money to keep the farm from being foreclosed on. And to buy enough seeds to plant more crops, and buy more fertilizer. But there is still debt to pay, and it depends on having another good season, and being able to fetch the best price for his blue ribbon winning goods.
Which brings us to today: The underdog has done everything the horde said he must to break the enchantment. But neither the horde nor many of the peasants cheered the underdog. Instead they immediately turned on the underdog! "You are worse than the giant now!" they all screamed. "But", said the underdog, "What about the fact that both the giant and I offer better stuff now, and more of it, because of what I did?" "Or that my stuff is better than the giants now?" "You charge just as much as the giant does! You are not supposed to do that. You are supposed to give us better stuff for less money!" They screamed. "But if I do that, I will not be able to save my farm, or afford the seeds to plant the new crops that will keep my farm going." said the underdog. "That's not our problem. We don't want your stuff anyways! Never planned to buy any of it from you!" "I don't understand" said the underdog. "We just wanted you to do it, so we could get more stuff, for less money, from the giant." *nods of agreement from the mob"
Even some of the peasants that bought the underdog's stuff turned on him. Saying that while they enjoyed the stuff, they would never pay the same prices as for the giant's. That in fact, they would now buy from the giant again, because the underdog had raised prices. They said this, despite the fact that the prices were still fair for what you got compared to the giant's.
Now, I have looked into the crystal ball, and this is what I see. If the peasants only buy from the underdog when he offers fire sale prices, darkness will return to the land. The giant will go back to his old ways. Only this time, there will be no underdog. And eventually, invaders will come, bringing super cheap trash. And the peasants will all buy it, saying "Well, its good enough for what I want." and not just the giant, but the whole kingdom, will fall into ruin.
The end