> if you buy a physical device, you own it, and should be able to do anything you want with it, including using its full capabilities. Previously there was no

> if you buy a physical device, you own it, and should be able to do anything you want with it, including using its full capabilities. Previously there was no official way to enable disabled cache or cores, though some motherboards provided such functionality. Now there is an official way but you have to pay for it. Intel is giving you more control over the hardware they sell you. I guess we could debate whether or not it's fair to charge for that capability, but considering that till now the general consensus is that low-end CPUs are ridiculously cheap for the given performance I don't feel like there's much to debate. 2 years after buying a low-end CPU you can pay $50 and unlock some extra cache or cores for even more performance, instead of upgrading to a new CPU (and possibly motherboard and RAM). Sounds like a win to me.