Putting effort where demand is, doesn't seem like the stupidest strategy to me. Creating demand for a new kind of product or service is nice, but reaching a market where their needs are, seems clever.
What baffles me about this 'innovate on something else than peak perf' is... What did they innovate on massively instead then, if not that? Apart from AVX512?
What baffles me about this 'innovate on something else than peak perf' is... What did they innovate on massively instead then, if not that? Apart from AVX512?