As Intel and Qualcomm aim to improve productivity, they've forgotten to ask if we really need it

At Computex 2019, both Intel and Qualcomm pushed the boundaries of performance. Intel introduced Project Athena, while Qualcomm in collaboration with Lenovo gave us a look at the “always-on” PC.

The two semiconductor titans are battling for supremacy in the productivity space, looking to get their processors in as many devices as possible. We believe they’re focusing on the “time is money” theory, hoping consumers will pay more to get the most productivity out of tablets and laptops.

Qualcomm

Lenovo’s Project Limitless, in association with Qualcomm, gave us the world’s first 5G laptop prototype at Computex 2019 running on a Snapdragon 8cx chipset. The semiconductor giant showed how its processor could save one minute and 11 seconds over the Core i5 in multitasking. With the aid of some mathematical flair, Qualcomm displayed how the 8cx could save up to 11 workdays of productivity a year.

Intel

Intel, on the other hand, announced Project Athena, a new class of laptops. The company claimed that laptops had to reach certain specifications to qualify for the “Athena” branding. The notebook would require a battery life of over nine hours in real-world usage scenarios, add four hours of battery life in a half hour charge and wake from sleep in under a second.

However, the one big failure on the part of both semiconductor behemoths was that they failed to consider if consumers actually want to save seconds if we want an always-on laptop that could give them access to work beyond office hours if we want our location continuously tracked through 5G.

Smartphones give us access to emails and messages 24/7 as we never really turn them off. And, while in some cases that could be essential, in most other cases they just increase your stress levels as it forces you to reply to emails immediately that could otherwise wait till the next day.

What an “always-on PC” and “Project Athena” do is give users the ability to act on emails immediately rather than simply reply to them. Social media does enough damage in terms of increasing overall screen time, and people using platforms on the bus or train are much easier to judge than ones working. The next thing you know, you’re filling spreadsheets and reports while attempting to watch Netflix.