Reader Comments

Wow! I guess since this is a Wee problem, it don't rate a big ole headline and negative reviews about how bad this is and how rushed to market it was. Instead it gets buried at the end of another article about a completely different though competitive product. I guess Paul doesn't want to Wii on that particular parade.

fczajka is going a "Wii"-bit overboard. Don't be a hater. Back to the point ... I'm still waiting for a download service to offer complete DVD packages for download (movie, extras, commentaries, etc.) and then allow the customer to burn that content to a DVD disc. Those of us who enjoy a movie in a home theater do not want to be bound to our PC screens to watch the film.

More Sony silliness: http://www.megagames.com/news/html/console/sonyfakepspblogbusted.shtml

I need an answer to a serious question: Does Sony sit around all day and ask, "What can we screw up in the next 24 hours?" Is the company capable of doing anything correctly? At least the website didn't come with a rootkit. I suppose that's a measure of success for Sony's PR department.

Off topic: if Vista Premium is going to be the most popular version among consumers, Microsoft will be making more money per computer with Vista than it did with XP.

I actually think this is a good move for Sony. The XBox 360 is trying to position itself as the core of your entertainment center. Sony must do the same for the PS3. To not add this component would be giving the 360 yet another leg up.

"Microsoft will be making more money per computer with Vista than it did with XP" That's entirely debatable, as you have to figure what the development costs are and whatnot, as well as the success of the product (outside of "The Channel" anyway, which is just "forced sales"). The "premium" versions are going to be more popular because more and more consumers are looking for integrated digital media solutions. Microsoft, being who they are, has to tread lightly in this area because of the vast partner base that covers the same functionality. This is where Apple has it made - they can include digital media software without being classified under any part of the anti-monopoly/anti-trust laws, since their market-share is nowhere close to being a threat to it's own partners or it's competition. Microsoft, however, is always run-through with a scalpel everytime they integrate a feature that some third-party has always charged for. I guess in a way, that makes them a victim of their own success. If partners and/or competitors can't persuade the end-user that they offer real innovation & value, over what Microsoft bundles as "lite" versions for free, then it's their own damn fault that they lose in the marketplace. The world's a tough place, and if you can't distinguish yourself from your competition, you're doomed to failure.

"Wow! I guess since this is a Wee problem, it don't rate a big ole headline and negative reviews about how bad this is and how rushed to market it was." I hope you hit your tv with a remote and it somehow destroys it. The audacity of people actually complaining about this, and Nintendo acknowledging it is moronic. The strap is a safety device, and it is not intended to be active. Just like a seatbelt in a car. You shouldn't go ramming other cars just because you have a safety belt. I swear I hate sounding like iPeople, but Nintendo _did_ go out of their way to make a unique controller and what do people do? Throw them at their sets and then complain. Grow up, or else you are going to have clone devices forever.

"Does Sony sit around all day and ask, "What can we screw up in the next 24 hours?" Is the company capable of doing anything correctly?" Sony does design and style well, and they have pretty good hardware engineers... its just they are slightly misguided in terms of hiding their morality slips than other companies. On a sidenote, I was a little sad about the PS3 interface... don't get me all, I'm all for the "one interface to rule them all" style of consistancy, but the PSP interface, while cute, is obviously made for a tiny screen. When you have 50" of realestate, there is more you can do. Obviously.

The biggest problem facing downloadble videos (TV shows, movies, video podcasts) is that eventually, you want to play them on every device that has a screen. A standard television, an HDTV set, a DVD player in a car, your laptop, your desktop, your cell phone, your video iPod/Zune... and so on. Many of the above devices accept: 1. Digital files in a generic file format. 2. DVDs (Video). Unless the downloadble video companies can find a way for us to take a download and burn a DVD, or put it on an SD card and insert it into our other devices, I just don't see the business gaining much momentum. Many of us don't want DRM lock-in to specific providers or devices. I own a video iPod and use iTunes. I absolutely hate it that my options for viewing DRM'd video content on my TV are: 1. Hook up a cable from my iPod to my TV, requiring my iPod for playback. 2. Wait for the iTV to come out, requiring me to keep my Mac/iTunes running fo playback. What happend 7 years from when authentication servers go offline? I own digital garbage. Now I used Apple as a specific example, but the same is true for Microsoft, and all the other DRM store systems out there. Consoles are especially scary. What happens when your console HDD and/or mobo dies? You can get the console replaced, but not your downloaded content. You get to buy that again. No backup. I'm sorry, but if I'm going to buy a movie or a game online through my console, you'd better have a way for me to copy that file to a PC/Mac so I can back up a copy of it and have a method for restoring that data later.

"Consoles are especially scary. What happens when your console HDD and/or mobo dies? You can get the console replaced, but not your downloaded content. You get to buy that again. No backup." Agreed. That's what makes this whole idea so ridiculous. If an xBox or PlayStation update fries your system, all your movies are *poof* GONE. At least with a computer, you can make a backup. Seriously, am I missing something here?

Presumably, content on a fried console is replaceable, however, not in the traditional computer HD -> backup sense. Just like a mobile phone that is fried, you would have to request a refund for the content that you have purchased again. I've done it with a mobile phone with some of Verizon's Get It Now stuff. And extra step, but it is possible. However, I fully understand and agree with your point, and that is that a console is a money pit. A downloaded movie is not overly different from a game purchased on one console that does not work on a newer console. The whole console ecosystem is designed to be replaced every few years, and most everyone buying a console understands that. They are ultimately a disposable commodity that will cease to be useful.

"They are ultimately a disposable commodity that will cease to be useful" Much like computers don't forget. The average lifespan of a computer is 3 years. That's why extended warranties are usually only offered up until then, and OEM-built computers only have a 1 year warranty since the parts are covered for 1 year and have a higher defect per lot count. That's also why OEM's charge more for the warranty over the lifetime of the parts - since it would cost them money to replace them. I agree with the point about backing up purchases, but I think the XBOX Marketplace has this right - charge less, and offer it as a rental instead. It's illegal to backup rental downloads just like it is to rip a rental DVD. There's copy protections in place to prevent that in both situations, too. If the console market started putting burners in their systems instead of just players, I'm sure that a DRM-enabled backup system to limit the number of burn jobs per original would be feasible. But of course, with the MPAA/RIAA being totally neurotic about DVD & DRM cracks, similar to the way the satellite industry has been bit with satellite hacks, I doubt that they would agree with any kind of proposal like that. The MPAA has become a victim of their own fears. The technology is there, and it CAN be "consumer-friendly", but the end result being a success or failure is all in the implementation of it.

@Waethorn "The average lifespan of a computer is 3 years." Way to create a market for your OEM business. Shame on you. Every computer I have ever owned that is an x86-Windows, x86-Linux, x86-Mac, and PPC-Mac still work fine. Granted, when I upgrade to a newer machine, the older one becomes an around-the-house server or a "new" computer for a relative. I can't speak for major, Windows-selling OEMs, because I've been building my own x86-Windows/x86-Linux machines for nearly a decade, but I have never had a machine flat out die. It's all in quality parts selection. Actually, the only OEM x-86-Windows/x86-Linux machines I have gotten are a pair of IBM ThinkPads that shipped with Win98SE. Today, one runs Linux, the other runs Windows XP, and even sport Wireless-G cards. And Apple's stuff are certainly powerhouse of craftsmanship. We have one department at our newspaper that still requires QuarkXPress 4.11 (for OS 9) for laying out pages and they use Blue & White G3s and Yikes G4s from 1999. These machines run full time, every single night, without hardware problems at all (save for the usual HDD or RAM module addition/replacement between OS refreshes). I even have a Beige PowerMac G3 233MHz at home still going strong as a WebDAV server. Not a single warranty on any of these PC/Linux/Mac machines. And the only things that have failed over the years were simple things any local Mom & Pop shop or tech relative could fix for cheap (replacing mobo batteries, replacing an HDD, replacing/adding RAM, adding a CD-Burner). Getting back to the theme of digital downloads, you can't re-download your DRM'd content after a hard disk crash (because people never backup their data). That's sort of OK, as you can't buy a DVD from Walmart, break it/lose it , then go back to Walmart and ask for a free replacement. The real problem is, they provide you with no backup solution and no transcoding solution (for indirect comp. with other devices, and future-proofing purchases).

@Waethorn "The average lifespan of a computer is 3 years." Way to create a market for your OEM business. Shame on you. Every computer I have ever owned that is an x86-Windows, x86-Linux, x86-Mac, and PPC-Mac still work fine. Granted, when I upgrade to a newer machine, the older one becomes an around-the-house server or a "new" computer for a relative. I can't speak for major, Windows-selling OEMs, because I've been building my own x86-Windows/x86-Linux machines for nearly a decade, but I have never had a machine flat out die. It's all in quality parts selection. Actually, the only OEM x-86-Windows/x86-Linux machines I have gotten are a pair of IBM ThinkPads that shipped with Win98SE. Today, one runs Linux, the other runs Windows XP, and even sport Wireless-G cards. And Apple's stuff are certainly powerhouse of craftsmanship. We have one department at our newspaper that still requires QuarkXPress 4.11 (for OS 9) for laying out pages and they use Blue & White G3s and Yikes G4s from 1999. These machines run full time, every single night, without hardware problems at all (save for the usual HDD or RAM module addition/replacement between OS refreshes). I even have a Beige PowerMac G3 233MHz at home still going strong as a WebDAV server. Not a single warranty on any of these PC/Linux/Mac machines. And the only things that have failed over the years were simple things any local Mom & Pop shop or tech relative could fix for cheap (replacing mobo batteries, replacing an HDD, replacing/adding RAM, adding a CD-Burner). Getting back to the theme of digital downloads, you can't re-download your DRM'd content after a hard disk crash (because people never backup their data). That's sort of OK, as you can't buy a DVD from Walmart, break it/lose it , then go back to Walmart and ask for a free replacement. The real problem is, they provide you with no backup solution and no transcoding solution (for indirect comp. with other devices, and future-proofing purchases).

vandil, this isn't myth or anything, it's common knowledge. the average system lasts 3 years. when u say u have to replace a hard drive here or ram there, often it's a problem that stems from a higher source, such as the motherboard or power supply. it's a common issue, and one that i've had numerous first-hand experiences with. why, i've seen many-a-namebrand system fail shortly after their 1 year warranty expired, and others that lasted 6 years without any repairs. can you honestly say that a computer you've had has lasted more than 6 without a single repair? those situations are so very rare, that i like to congratulate the people that have those systems. many a macbook has failed recently, too! motherboards, hard drives, power supplies, optical drives and ram will often fail in most machines - a) because they are moving parts, or B) because they draw the most power in the machine and have to regulate it to other components. i haven't seen too many cpu's just fail outright without burning out tho. after the three year period, usually a system reaches the point where repairs are costing more than the price of a new low-end system. most people usually buy the low to mid-range system costing anywhere from $700-$1500 for a desktop, and at the three year mark, if there's a major part that needs replacing such as the motherboard, it's often difficult (or impossible) to get a replacement, or the cost is too high. as for individual hardware component upgrades, try to get a hard drive for a 5-6 year old computer...the lowest hard drives that are commonly available are 160GB and most don't run on older systems, or would cost more than what the system is worth, so it's a crapchute. old laptops? try to use a laptop with 16-bit PCMCIA with wireless-g....there are no 16-bit cards made anymore, and 32-bit cards run at a different voltage, so again, it's not even worthwhile for stuff that old. i'd rather have a new system and not pay for repairs.