It sounds like you're saying that a pervasive multicore strategy is a good thing, and I agree. Microsoft Research is doing a lot of facilitate multi-processor software, and companies like NEC and SGI have built entire businesses on toolchains + hardware for parallel computing.
I also think that the author is ignoring a significant advantage to having access to inexpensive, multi-core processors, which is that even if most of your tasks don't parallelize well, modern OS's run a LOT of tasks concurrently, out of necessity.
I think that he is also ignoring the fact that there are quite a few software shops out there that are working on paralellizing their software (e.g. Valve, Mental Images, Adobe, Project:Messiah Group, PIXAR, etc).
Another missed point is that most people don't actually have a real need for more computing power than a Pentium4 or AthlonXP, let alone a Penryn or a quad-core CPU. Quad-core (or more) PC's are overkill even for most software developers. Most of the people buying MacPros with 8 cores aren't writing software, they're editing and encoding video, large photographs, rendering large CG projects, compositing... the sort of thing that drives most markets: content.
The real issue here is, IMO, the lack of a "killer app" to convince the average user to WANT a multi-core system.
I also think that the author is ignoring a significant advantage to having access to inexpensive, multi-core processors, which is that even if most of your tasks don't parallelize well, modern OS's run a LOT of tasks concurrently, out of necessity.
I think that he is also ignoring the fact that there are quite a few software shops out there that are working on paralellizing their software (e.g. Valve, Mental Images, Adobe, Project:Messiah Group, PIXAR, etc).
Another missed point is that most people don't actually have a real need for more computing power than a Pentium4 or AthlonXP, let alone a Penryn or a quad-core CPU. Quad-core (or more) PC's are overkill even for most software developers. Most of the people buying MacPros with 8 cores aren't writing software, they're editing and encoding video, large photographs, rendering large CG projects, compositing... the sort of thing that drives most markets: content.
The real issue here is, IMO, the lack of a "killer app" to convince the average user to WANT a multi-core system.