Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
> In message <1158868616.660768.217610@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Rex
> Ballard wrote:
>
> > Sony decided to retaliate against the X-Box, by selling it's PS3 as a
> > Linux machine.
>
> This sort of thing mystifies me. All versions of the XBox and PlayStation
> have been sold at a loss, which means that more than 100% of the profits
> have to come from selling the games. So if the companies start promoting
> their games consoles as suitable for things other than those games (whether
> as an entertainment centre, running Linux or whatever), it's inevitably
> going to mean fewer games sold, which means less profit.
But even games aren't that much of a money maker. On the other hand,
using a playstation with keyboard as an appliance to sell services -
pure gold. It's why Microsoft so rabidly defended their position on
the desktop, threatening to revoke ALL of Compaq's Prolinea licenses
unless they removed Netscape and stopped removing IE from the desktop.
Using Linux as an "internet appliance" means that you can generate a
whole new level of services that couldn't be supported by the
traditional Windows PC. With fast multitasking, security, and server
capabilities, Linux machines can be faster, more efficient, and more
flexible. They can run interactive games, including multiplayer games
on Linux without issues. Keep in mind that multiplayer games started
on Unix about 20 years ago with a game called Empire. It was a
text-based came, but those played it got very involved in it and it
could go for days, or even months, depending on how well you played and
how many people were in the game. An animated version was created
later, but many of the principles and concepts are still used today. I
read recently that someone was trying to enforce a patent on
multiplayer games. 20 year old technology and someone just filed a
patent on it.
There's bucks to be made in a Linux machine. And even more to be made
in a PS3.
Microsoft knows it, and that's why they have tried so hard to maintain
control of the desktop, the network (MSN, Verisign...), and the OEM
channel.
Keep in mind that Microsoft is just one piece of a much bigger
organization of companies that are partially owned by Microsoft. Even
if you figure that Microsoft only gets 25% of their take, that could
still be another $40 billion in sales and services through these
regulated satellite companies.
> Diversifying from games just doesn't jibe with the loss-leader business
> model.
Yes, but putting Linux directly on the desktop as an "Interactive
Internet Appliance" makes a lot of sense. TiVo boxes are sold for as
little as $80 per machine, but users typically subscribe to a service
for $30 per month in ADDITION to their regular cable bill.
There are something like 80 million TiVo machines out there?
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