This is a good point that I cannot disagree with. One more round in the magazine of the Intel footgun. Lack of openness and engagement with customers cuts both

This is a good point that I cannot disagree with. One more round in the magazine of the Intel footgun. Lack of openness and engagement with customers cuts both ways. The ME tech is great for a market segment of industrial datacentres. If those buyers chose to prioritise energy and management over security, then hurrah to whatever works for them. But as you say, Intel hid it away. Like a guilty secret. They somehow forgot to tell even their most Evil™ customers about the Evil Inside™. Which is jolly suspicious. And they've hidden away other "features" that trash security. It may be the number of people who "actually care about Intel Management Engine is extremely small", but those who do matter and they make decisions. Yes performance is important but security factors are going to be gaining more and more influence now. So Intel were told time and time again that people want legible, well documented products with no surprises, and they ignored that.