I see Linux on the PS3 as trying to get an edge into the "second household PC" market. Lots of people own PC's and some own two (or three) because people get tired of waiting to use the one. But with the PS3 there's no need to buy another Wintel box, thereby also reducing Microsofts OEM Windows sales.
It was YABASIC in Europe that was included with PS2s to evade the tax, which doesn't exist anymore. The Linux kit for the PS2 or Linux for the PS3 have nothing to do with that. I don't know why that urban legend keeps showing up.
You did know that the official PS2 Linux sit is still up and running, they didn't abandon support, they just sold all the kits.
Doesn't WinXP run on boxes with only 256MB. Last I checked at my local Wal-mart they had a WinXP box for sale with only 256. The Windows machine I have had 256MB as the base RAM and Gateway was advertising them as being good general sue computers.
Personally, I've been running Linux on a PS2 for over 4 years. The 32MB is a limitation yes, but not as much as you might think and the PS3 has 8x as much. It'll be enough for general uses.
This Sony fanboy knows that there are two PS3 versions, the one $499 and the one for $599, the more expensive having a larger hard drive, built in wi-fi and a built in card reader. So when parent says it costs $599, it costs $599.
I think it's worth it, for all that it does, but I don't have the $599 right now.
Oh that, the PS2 works the same way. You don't use the "local memory" the way PC's do it. It's not a real issue except for anti-sony folks looking for some kind of ammo. You write to local memory, you don't read from it. Nothing new.
Who the hell wants to edit photos on a gaming counsel? First off, trying to constitute a PS3 as a cheap solution to a computer is ridiculous. Despite being able to use a keyboard/mouse on a PS3, you're going to use a regular TV to edit photos?
I've done it,works fine. People used to do all sorts of things on 320x200 and 640x400 displays.
Even with an HD tv you're going to have to shell out $2000+ and at that point I think it's moot.
You can buy 1080p HDMI sets for less than a 1000 here. But the PS2 does other resolutions so you could use an older or less capable (cheaper set) and still get better than standard NTSC.
(Speculation)Plus you have to be somewhat tech savvy to even run linux/install it on the PS3 which most consumers aren't and could possibly brick the damn thing.
Anybody who can follow simple instructions can install Linux on a PS3, or PS2 for that matter. It's like following a recipe. And there's no possiblity of bricking it, Linux is a totally separate thing from the GameOS, in both the PS2 and PS3 it's akin to dual booting Linux and Windows.
Running Linux is not that hard at all, plenty of books on the subject out there and since the PS3 can use standard PPC Linux binaries it's even easier, less need to compile everything like one does for the PS2 (though that isn't that difficult either) Anybody could learn to use the PS3 as a desktop machine.
Square first, Sony second, but SCEfoo can't market it's way out of a paper bag.
Oh sure AAC and h.264 aren't Apple specific formats, just strongly associated with Apple. For example all the vodcasts out there are described as being for the iPod Video even though the PSP plays them too.
And yes, Apple sucks at marketing or they'd have better than what is it now 10% market share? Overpiced products, the whole "we want the Mac to be seen as a serious machine so we won't encourage gaming on it" philosophy they used to have. The whole abandonment of the "home computer" market so they could sell overpriced Mac's to art departments in corporations.
IMHO pricing is the most important part of marketing.
I have a PS2 Linux kit, and it's fully capable of running standard "home" applications at 294 MHz and 32MB RAM. The CPU isn't the bottleneck at all except for things like converting flv into MPEG4 with PSPVC, stuff like that.
The PS3 is 10x faster and has 8x the RAM and you're saying it won't be able to do that? You do know that GIMP is capable of editing images larger than available RAM. I bet if had a 5 megipixel image I could load and edit it on the PS2. I've done 3.2 MP myself on it.
My local Wal-Mart has desktops on the shelf with slower CPU's and the same RAM.
Trust me, for home desktop uses the PS3 will run just fine.
There already is an iPod/DS, it's the Sony PSP. Why do you think the PSP plays AAC and video content encoded for the iPod. Surely Sony's been influcenced by Apple too, including the Vaio line.
No, Sony is the Apple of the console business, no matter what the Nintendo + Apple = LOVE crwd says.
Which console manufacturer makes a console that not only can play AAC, can rip CD's into it? Sony.
Which console manufacture makes consoles and portables that can play iPod video content? Sony
Which console manufacture makes a portable device that can play AAC? Sony
Which console manufacture makes a console that is a true "home computer" and can do what the Mac Mini does but is a better game machine. Sony.
Which console manufacturer makes x86 desktops and laptops with style (Vaio)? Sony.
Which console manufacturer sucks at marketing which is why they haven't trounced everyone else with their technologically superior products? Sony.
Do the Sony commercials mention the fact that the PSP has a built in web browser, supports RSS and can download podcasts and vodcasts directly to itself with no PC intervention needed? No.
Do the Sony commercials mention that the fricking PS3 can run Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, can edit your photos, etc via Linux, so that it's not just $600 gametoy for lil Timmy, it's a computer too? No.
Wouldn't it make more sense for Apple to work with Sony, apart from the usual fervor of the cults of Apple and Nintendo for a team up.
The PS3 already has a hard drive, and can rip CD's (into AAC, MP3 or ATRAC), can play video encoded for iPod, and runs Linux ( I wonder if OSX would run via Mac on Linux distributed with Yellow Dog 5.0 for it)
I don't carry my PSP around with me and play them for a few minutes or something like that while I'm waiting for something. So I don't think it's that the PSP doesn't have "good games"; it has some great games. It's just that it has a lot of games that aren't necessarily well suited for "on the go" gaming.
Doesn't the sleep function make a difference in that? There's no need to worry about having to save or lose progress when you can just sleep the thing.
I carry mine around, it's easier in cooler weather with jacket pockets. I use it for all sorts of things and the built in web browser is a godsend.
When I first saw the commercials I was thinking "oh a cheap simple cell phone for the seniors" but it isn't cheap. They'd be better off buying a GoPhone or something from Wal-Mart.
That ad wasn't so bad. It conveyed what the game was about, sword swinging! When I first saw it I got the impression that Zelda was some kind of action RPG style game, a genre I'd not seen on consoles. At that time I didn't own a PC so it was nice to see that some kind of RPG style game was coming to a console.
The worst Zelda commercial is the rapping nerd one.
"It's the Legend Of Zelda and it's really rad, Those creatures from Ganon are pretty bad, Octoroks, Tektites and Leevers too, But with your help our hero pulls through."
Stipend is still around, but only for Premium accounts and Basic accounts started before the cut-off date in July. Also Premium accounts started recently get a lower stipend.
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That $400 PC can't play PS3 games or PS2 games. It can't even play PC games very well.
The PS3 on the other hand is fully capable of opening a Word document and printing it out and other supposedly PC only things.
I see Linux on the PS3 as trying to get an edge into the "second household PC" market. Lots of people own PC's and some own two (or three) because people get tired of waiting to use the one. But with the PS3 there's no need to buy another Wintel box, thereby also reducing Microsofts OEM Windows sales.
Again with the tax myth. Linux for the PS2 or PS3 had nothing to do with that tax, which was a Europe only thing. The tax doesn't exist anymore.
SCEfoo is supporting Linux because they want to.
Your RAM would go even further using fluxbox, XFCE or even the e17 Yellow Dog 5.0 uses. :-)
No no no, it's 256 main RAM, 256 graphics RAM.
main RAM isn't shared.
It was YABASIC in Europe that was included with PS2s to evade the tax, which doesn't exist anymore. The Linux kit for the PS2 or Linux for the PS3 have nothing to do with that. I don't know why that urban legend keeps showing up.
You did know that the official PS2 Linux sit is still up and running, they didn't abandon support, they just sold all the kits.
Doesn't WinXP run on boxes with only 256MB. Last I checked at my local Wal-mart they had a WinXP box for sale with only 256. The Windows machine I have had 256MB as the base RAM and Gateway was advertising them as being good general sue computers.
Personally, I've been running Linux on a PS2 for over 4 years. The 32MB is a limitation yes, but not as much as you might think and the PS3 has 8x as much. It'll be enough for general uses.
Yes, it's ideas introduced with the PS2, taken to the "next level". SPE's instead of the VU's
This Sony fanboy knows that there are two PS3 versions, the one $499 and the one for $599, the more expensive having a larger hard drive, built in wi-fi and a built in card reader. So when parent says it costs $599, it costs $599.
I think it's worth it, for all that it does, but I don't have the $599 right now.
Oh that, the PS2 works the same way. You don't use the "local memory" the way PC's do it. It's not a real issue except for anti-sony folks looking for some kind of ammo. You write to local memory, you don't read from it.
Nothing new.
I've done it,works fine. People used to do all sorts of things on 320x200 and 640x400 displays.
You can buy 1080p HDMI sets for less than a 1000 here. But the PS2 does other resolutions so you could use an older or less capable (cheaper set) and still get better than standard NTSC.
Anybody who can follow simple instructions can install Linux on a PS3, or PS2 for that matter. It's like following a recipe. And there's no possiblity of bricking it, Linux is a totally separate thing from the GameOS, in both the PS2 and PS3 it's akin to dual booting Linux and Windows.
Running Linux is not that hard at all, plenty of books on the subject out there and since the PS3 can use standard PPC Linux binaries it's even easier, less need to compile everything like one does for the PS2 (though that isn't that difficult either) Anybody could learn to use the PS3 as a desktop machine.
Square first, Sony second, but SCEfoo can't market it's way out of a paper bag.
Apple is supposed to be computer company, not a portable audio company.
Oh sure AAC and h.264 aren't Apple specific formats, just strongly associated with Apple. For example all the vodcasts out there are described as being for the iPod Video even though the PSP plays them too.
And yes, Apple sucks at marketing or they'd have better than what is it now 10% market share? Overpiced products, the whole "we want the Mac to be seen as a serious machine so we won't encourage gaming on it" philosophy they used to have. The whole abandonment of the "home computer" market so they could sell overpriced Mac's to art departments in corporations.
IMHO pricing is the most important part of marketing.
I have a PS2 Linux kit, and it's fully capable of running standard "home" applications at 294 MHz and 32MB RAM. The CPU isn't the bottleneck at all except for things like converting flv into MPEG4 with PSPVC, stuff like that.
The PS3 is 10x faster and has 8x the RAM and you're saying it won't be able to do that? You do know that GIMP is capable of editing images larger than available RAM. I bet if had a 5 megipixel image I could load and edit it on the PS2. I've done 3.2 MP myself on it.
My local Wal-Mart has desktops on the shelf with slower CPU's and the same RAM.
Trust me, for home desktop uses the PS3 will run just fine.
There already is an iPod/DS, it's the Sony PSP. Why do you think the PSP plays AAC and video content encoded for the iPod. Surely Sony's been influcenced by Apple too, including the Vaio line.
No, Sony is the Apple of the console business, no matter what the Nintendo + Apple = LOVE crwd says.
Which console manufacturer makes a console that not only can play AAC, can rip CD's into it? Sony.
Which console manufacture makes consoles and portables that can play iPod video content? Sony
Which console manufacture makes a portable device that can play AAC? Sony
Which console manufacture makes a console that is a true "home computer" and can do what the Mac Mini does but is a better game machine. Sony.
Which console manufacturer makes x86 desktops and laptops with style (Vaio)? Sony.
Which console manufacturer sucks at marketing which is why they haven't trounced everyone else with their technologically superior products? Sony.
Do the Sony commercials mention the fact that the PSP has a built in web browser, supports RSS and can download podcasts and vodcasts directly to itself with no PC intervention needed? No.
Do the Sony commercials mention that the fricking PS3 can run Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, can edit your photos, etc via Linux, so that it's not just $600 gametoy for lil Timmy, it's a computer too? No.
Frakkin SCEfoo marketing morons.
Wouldn't it make more sense for Apple to work with Sony, apart from the usual fervor of the cults of Apple and Nintendo for a team up.
The PS3 already has a hard drive, and can rip CD's (into AAC, MP3 or ATRAC), can play video encoded for iPod, and runs Linux ( I wonder if OSX would run via Mac on Linux distributed with Yellow Dog 5.0 for it)
Doesn't the sleep function make a difference in that? There's no need to worry about having to save or lose progress when you can just sleep the thing.
I carry mine around, it's easier in cooler weather with jacket pockets. I use it for all sorts of things and the built in web browser is a godsend.
When I first saw the commercials I was thinking "oh a cheap simple cell phone for the seniors" but it isn't cheap. They'd be better off buying a GoPhone or something from Wal-Mart.
That ad wasn't so bad. It conveyed what the game was about, sword swinging! When I first saw it I got the impression that Zelda was some kind of action RPG style game, a genre I'd not seen on consoles. At that time I didn't own a PC so it was nice to see that some kind of RPG style game was coming to a console.
The worst Zelda commercial is the rapping nerd one.
"It's the Legend Of Zelda and it's really rad,
Those creatures from Ganon are pretty bad,
Octoroks, Tektites and Leevers too,
But with your help our hero pulls through."
shudder.
It's one box that does the work of 3. Not everybody wants to have a half dozen game systems hooked up to their TV's.
And even if you don't have an HDTV all those functions are still there.
The reason it costs $600 is that it does more.
It's plays PS3, PS2 and PS1 games.
It plays Blu-ray and DVD movies
It has a built in web browser
It plays MP4 video downloaded to it's HD or via USB mass storage device.
Same goes for photos
It can play audio CD's and rip them to it's HD in either ATRAC, AAC or MP3 format, no PC required.
But it's also a personal computer, if you install Linux, which is officially supported and could be done the day of launch.
Stipend is still around, but only for Premium accounts and Basic accounts started before the cut-off date in July. Also Premium accounts started recently get a lower stipend.
For Half-Life, Starcraft and Diablo, he could even stick to the console versions if he wanted to.
Because no $500 PC is a good gaming box.
I've got a windows machine that cost about 3 times as much as my PS2 (2001 price) but it's nowhere near as good a gaming machine as the PS2 is.