My, how the World Wide Web has changed. Remember the whole glorious idea of information deliverable and scalable to anyone on any computer, from a high-end Power Mac to a lowly DOS-based 286? The web drifted away from that ideal over the years, with special browser plug-ins only available for certain platforms, stuff like that. Not that we at AtAT are against the inevitable march of progress-- heck, our show isn't exactly forgiving to people running "non-standard" browsers on older machines-- but we've always liked the idea that the web should be accessible to anybody. Unfortunately, Intel's busy trying to hammer another nail in that concept's coffin.

According to a Fairfax IT article, Intel is currently in negotiations with several web content providers in Australia, in hopes of "persuading" them to make web sites that are only available to surfers with a Pentium III-based computer. The goal, apparently, is to have sites on the web that immediately try to load the infamous "Processor Serial Number" from the surfer's computer, and if one is not found, to bar access from the non-Pentium III machine. In the words of Angelo Lo Certo, Intel's Internet marketing manager for the Asia Pacific region, "The basic premise is that if you have a Pentium III-based PC your Internet experience will be greatly enhanced." And, of course, if you don't, then you're just plain screwed. We wonder what the Justice Department would have to say about this whole plan? And is it any wonder that Intel is pushing this "Pentium III-only" scheme in countries like Australia, outside of the DoJ's jurisdiction?

By the way, just so you know: the AtAT staff has no plans to make our show accessible only to PowerPC's, or anything like that. Our goal is for everything to work well in the Mac versions of Netscape Navigator 3 and higher, Internet Explorer 4 and higher, and any version of iCab, all without any special plug-ins. Meanwhile, we do what we can to make the show watchable for those tuning in from other platforms, but of course that's a lower production priority. Now, that's not to say that if someone were to (cough) "subsidize" our production, we wouldn't consider blocking access from Windows focusing all our efforts on providing the most enjoyable experience to our Mac-enabled viewers... Anyone know Steve Jobs' phone number?