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PS3 OS Wasn't Final at TGS
LifesBlood writes "The PlayStation 3 operating system used at the Tokyo Game Show was apparently not final. Sony confirmed to GameDaily BIZ that the company has been in the process of finalizing it and that just like the Wii's OS, it will be upgradeable in the future." From the article: "We were told that this should not affect PS3 production whatsoever. Moreover, SCEA does not believe that the state of the OS at TGS had anything to do with the system resets or other glitches that some witnessed. Sony reiterated that it was the confined cases and other unfriendly trade show conditions that caused problems with the consoles. In addition, Sony said it has the capability to upgrade the PS3's OS after the console launches through its online network, memory stick files or Blu-ray discs."
I would think the main problem is the implication (who knows if it's true) that the OS hasn't been fully tested (how could it be if the software isn't finalized?). If, for example, the PS3 is released and requires an update out of the box to fix a problem, then the buyer would have to find a way to get that update, such as by connecting the box to the Internet, even if that buyer had no initial intention of doing so. While I recall hearing about X360 hardware problems, I don't remember many (any) complaints about how the software worked out of the box.
While it's hard to imagine someone spending $500-600 on a PS3 and then not connecting it to the Internet (where, presumably, OS updates would come through automagically), still, if there are showstopping OS bugs left when the PS3 ships then people are [rightly] going to be upset.