__/ [ Michael B. Trausch ] on Friday 02 June 2006 06:30 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote in <1692121.QjyeV87upP@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> on Thu, June
> 1 2006 12:42:
>>
>> INTERVIEW WITH SONY-EXEC PHIL HARRISON
>>
>> "The Playstation 3 Is a Computer"
>>
>> http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,419072,00.html
>>
>
> I am sorry -- I *must* take issue with that. The original Nintendo was a
> computer, too. Based around the 6502, which was the same CPU used in the
> Apple II line of machines. For that matter, all gaming consoles have are
> computers, and if the right hardware were hooked up to them, programming
> them would be a real possibility. :) The Playstation II, IIRC, was a MIPS
> based computer.
>
> They just have special hardware interfaces that make them unsuitable for
> use _as_ a general purpose computer.
Yes, definitely.
What makes a computer is often a processor and some memory, probably random
access. In that sense, all consoles are 'computers', so the word is used
loosely here. Did the executive mean a "Personal Computer"? Did he allude to
some capabilities which he believes define a "computer"? And anyway, why
wasn't the Nintendo which I played a lot as a child not a computer? Some of
the games it had exceeded the 'richness' of games on my XT desktop
(performance was not matched). And all I did was pretty much play games on
that desktop anyway... the main difference was the interface (keyboard
versus gamepad) and permanent storage (floppy disk), among other factors.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | "Seeing bad movies only encourages them"
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