Ask Paul: March 19 (Premium)

Happy Friday, and welcome to this earlier- and slightly shorter-than-usual Ask Paul. I’m hoping to head out early for a long weekend away. This will be our first getaway since the pandemic began one year ago, and hopefully is just a fitful start to more travel as 2021 progresses.
Next NUC
wdodwell asks:

Hi Paul - did you get another NUC? What do you think of them? ...

Not yet, but based on my past two weeks of experimentation---in which I switched fully to laptops---I will be getting one soon. There’s a lot that went into what I was doing, including my need to finish up on some laptop reviews so that I could return to the Intel Evo/Mac M1 stuff, but what I learned---or, really, confirmed---is that I really do prefer have a desktop-type PC in my office. And that I really enjoy the NUC form factor.

I ended up going back to my older NUC for now (a “NUC 8,” I guess, given its 8th-generation Intel chipset), but it’s just unreliable enough to be annoying. So when I get back from this long weekend trip, I’ll start researching the new NUCs. I have pretty basic needs so I will likely go with the smaller (shorter) form factor and a Core i5.

... And what is the use case for Optane memory?

Optane memory is used as cache for SSDs, so it’s basically just a way to speed up an SSD. That said, Optane may be on the way out since Intel killed off its Optane-based products two months ago.
Intel marketing
matsan asks:

What's you take on Intel's #GoPC? Will it work or blow up in their face? Much better than Microsoft's Surface shot across the M1-bow at least.

I’m happy to see Intel taking a stand here. Too often, big companies ignore and don’t name the competitors that are nipping at their heels, as Microsoft did with Apple, coincidentally, back in the original “I’m a Mac” days. Apple has ridden a mindshare and free advertising high for months now, and Intel is correct to point out that PCs still have material advantages over any Mac, and over M1-based Macs specifically. It’s also being more honest about where its numbers come from when it discusses performance.

Many of the reactions to the new ads, as evidenced in part by the comments on this site, would be hilarious if they weren’t so sad and troubling. I’m not surprised, of course. But I have a hard time understanding why anyone would watch these ads or look at Intel’s other materials and not think it’s the right approach. Intel isn’t “running scared,” it’s simply countering what has been a one-sided conversation thus far. Microsoft and the PC makers should do the same.
Computing evolution
j5 asks:

So I've made the switch to the Apple ecosystem; iPhone 12, iPad Air, and M1 Mac Mini. I'm going to have a fun weekend of switching over from my 6-year-old Windows 10 laptop ... My question is, what are your thoughts if you look back at how both computer platforms have progressed throughout the years, their battles, each their internal ups a...