lamotia made a very well thought out argument, so I thought I'd post a response.
lamotia said:
First of all I would like to say that I don't use the OtherOS feature and I probably won't be able to do so after this update.
I understand the people that used it and I really think that the fact that they will lose a feature sucks.
Totally agree with you there.
lamotia said:
But let's look at things from Sonys point of view.
They made a platform that by itself is losing money (at least at the beginning) and they hope to get those money back by selling software.
Not quite true. They have historically lost money on hardware, but make money years later when production is cheaper. For example, Sony still sells PS2 consoles and they make money on each one sold. It is a long-term business model, 10 years+ according to Sony.
lamotia said:
They also include a free of charge ability to play games online (which their main competitor Microsoft charges for) and a fully working Linux OS (that no one from their competitors provides for their customers). They spent and continue to spend money on those features. Now I don't know how much but by the look of it it should be a lot. And worst of all they continue to lose money because of those features.
First, consider the free online gaming. This was again a business decision. It has taken Sony years to get the PSN comparable in features to Xbox Live. Now we are hearing rumors of Sony wanting to charge for "premium online services". Microsoft spent a lot of money up front on developing Xbox LIVE too.
The ability to run linux was a built-in advertised feature that Sony used to justify the high launch prices.
lamotia said:
The US military alone bought 1700 PS3 to make servers out of them because IBMs Blade servers that are equipped with Cell cost tons of money. God knows how many others did that. Sony lost money from each console since they are not selling a single piece of software for those companies and individuals.
Once again, it was a business decision to sell the console at the initial cost. How many people bought launch Wiis for Wii Sports and never bought any other games.
lamotia said:
The PSN is also losing tons of money for bandwidth but still 4 years after the PS3's launch the platform is free.
Kudos to Sony for keeping it free so far, but how many years did it lag behind Xbox Live in features and functionality. The free online is also a strong selling point for PS3 consoles and games. Many consumers buy PS3 versions of multiplatform games because of the free online, which leads to profit for Sony.
lamotia said:
Now, along came geohot with his hack. He manages to get rid of the hypervisor and promises that there will be custom code running on the PS3 at some point. There is a huge risk that piracy spreads on the system. What should Sony do? Leave it like this? Increase the price of the console? Increase the price the price of the games? Make the PSN subscription paid by default? Or remove the feature that started this problem in the first place?
Yes, douchebag comes along and puts a damper on the party. However Sony chose the option that is best for it's business which consequently breaks an advertised feature. There is a question to the legality of this, and it is up to the consumers to stand up for themselves and their rights.
lamotia said:
Q: How much cash are they generating form that feature? A: Zero. They actually made an investment so that they can have this OS up and running on the PS3. In addition to that I guess that there are some fees in order to get updates for it.
They generated money for every system sold where this feature factored into the purchase decision. It factored in for me.
lamotia said:
Q: Whats the number of users that are using it? A: Low.
Low, but not zero.
lamotia said:
Q: Are the US Army and the companies that are using the PS3 as a server going to have problems if they do not have the ability to play games and log in to PSN? A: No.
They are only a portion of the userbase. This still affects legitimate consumers that use the feature.
lamotia said:
Q: Are they going to have a potential hole that leads to piracy on the system? A: No.
Have there been any systems that have not been hacked in due time? Most likely there are still vulnerabilities.
lamotia said:
Case closed. No other company gave us the possibility to install another OS on their platform. Sony gave this feature for free but with some basic rules attached. Now geohot broke them. How did you think this was going to end?
I have to disagree with you there. Sony advertised this feature and is now intentionally disabling it. I think this case is very much still open until it is actually challenged in court.