One of the biggest concerns users have when it comes
to purchasing most electronic gadgets is the fear of it becoming obsolete.
After all no one likes spending US$ 1,000 on a new gadget only to find out that
next year’s model is many times an improvement, right? However Intel thinks
that they might have a solution to that problem.
Making the announcement at CES 2017, Intel has taken
the wraps off a device called the Compute Card. This is a credit card-sized
computer that packs the guts of a computer inside of it, or at least the main
components which according to Intel, include an “Intel SoC, memory, storage and
wireless connectivity with flexible I/O options”.
While this won’t be used for upgrading your computer
or smartphone, Intel envisions that it could be used to help upgrade devices
like smart refrigerators, smart kiosks, security camera solutions, IoT
gateways, and more. All users have to do is swap out their existing card for a
newer model and they’ll be good to go. While you will still need to spend
money, it could be cheaper than buying the entire device again.
Modular computer upgrades aren’t a new concept,
although for some reason they haven’t really taken off yet. Several years ago
Razer tried to introduce a similar concept for desktop PCs called Project
Christine, but it seems that OEMs weren’t quite as eager to get on board, but
hopefully the Intel Compute Card will succeed where Razer failed.
