Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 29th Mar 2010 12:59 UTC, submitted by NiceGuyEddie
The PlayStation 3 Slim already had an ability penalty of -35 Geekiness because of its lack of the "Install Other OS" option, and now the regular PlayStation 3 will follow in its footsteps. A PS3 firmware update, scheduled to land April 1, will disable this option on regular PS3s as well. This, dear readers, is what we in the business call a "testicle move", especially since only a few weeks ago, Sony bold-facedly claimed the feature would not be removed.
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Member since:2005-07-06
This concept of Sony losing money when a purchaser doesn't buy games really does my head in. They might be losing money on the sale of a console, yeah maybe.
- So does Sony prefer I don't by the console if I don't buy games?
- So does Sony prefer I don't by the console if I don't buy games?
Yes. If they lost money from the small number of machines that went into clusters, it's because they actively supported that market with both hardware and software - who do you think produced PS3 Linux? where do you think Yellow dog's PS3 cluster came from?
Member since:2006-01-26
This concept of Sony losing money when a purchaser doesn't buy games really does my head in. They might be losing money on the sale of a console, yeah maybe.
Just to clarify - this was the way it worked for initially, and for several years thereafter. I believe this "problem" has mostly been resolved with cheaper parts and manufacturing costs now.
The idea was probably to lose money on each console initially, gain market share, and then make up for it in game licensing and peripherals later.
I still doubt they really consider console sales to be a huge benefit to their bottom line, it's really all about the games.
Member since:2006-01-26
- Perhaps they should lock the firmware down to doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING other than playing PS3 games and sell the console for $10. Will that make us buy one and buy 1000 games?
Also remember that the PS3 was one of the first devices to offer Blu-ray playback... and was the *cheapest* way to get a bluray player for a while.
This was a combo move by Sony - they offered a major incentive to purchase a PS3, while at the same time making Bluray affordable when it wasn't otherwise (HD-DVD players were much cheaper).
Since Sony had a major investment in Bluray, it was to their advantage to bring this technology to consumers as cheaply and quickly as possible.
Without making the PS3 more enticing to consumers as a "media center" and "general computer", along with "backward compatible" (plays PS2 games), they really would have had a hard time getting it off the ground to compete with the cheaper consoles on the market.
Since then, they've removed backwards compatibility, and the OtherOS features from newer machines - sounds like they're doing exactly what you're suggesting they should do.
Edited 2010-03-30 00:29 UTC
RE[2]: Please explain
by Bringbackanonposting on Tue 30th Mar 2010 23:24
in reply to "RE: Please explain"
Member since:2005-11-16
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:38 UTC
"The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 13:30 UTC, submitted by JRepin
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 22:06 UTC
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:45 UTC
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 15:53 UTC
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 22:43 UTC
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 21:50 UTC
PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:15 UTC
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/19/13 23:11 UTC, submitted by Drumhellar
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:06 UTC
"At the end of a week in which Electronic Arts confirmed it wasn't developing a thing for the Wii U, one of the software engineers in EA Sports' Canada studio, in a series of since-deleted tweets, disparaged the console as 'crap' and suggested Nintendo should give up on hardware altogether. 'The Wii U is crap. Less powerful than an Xbox 360. Poor online/store. Weird tablet', tweeted Bob Summerwill, listed as a senior software engineer at EA Canada, in a reply to a tweet posting a link about EA's no-Wii U news. 'Nintendo are walking dead at this point'." The Wii U is turning into the 21st century's Virtual Boy.More News »
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Member since:
2005-11-16
This concept of Sony losing money when a purchaser doesn't buy games really does my head in. They might be losing money on the sale of a console, yeah maybe.
- So does Sony prefer I don't by the console if I don't buy games?
- So all the consoles that didn't sell. Will Sony take them to the crusher when the PS4 comes out?
- Perhaps they should lock the firmware down to doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING other than playing PS3 games and sell the console for $10. Will that make us buy one and buy 1000 games?
I would think that Sony wants to sell as much of anything with the brand Sony on it they can. Whatever the price.
I was waiting patiently to get a good deal on a PS3. Not anymore. Unless we get a russian hacker re-writing the firmware to let us do what we want with the PS3, I'll stick to saving money.