3 ms·

To be fair, Sony is hard-pressed to provide hardware at a loss just because it's being used for good. As a company they need to stay profitable and all of the g

by ericz 16y ago

To be fair, Sony is hard-pressed to provide hardware at a loss just because it's being used for good. As a company they need to stay profitable and all of the good press it got for being a research beast was not translating into positive returns. So it was good while it lasted but unfortunately the free market dictates this change.

kixxauth 16y ago
Sony could have done better to collaborate with the military and other researchers to leverage the PS3 super computer status into the PS3 brand itself.
- CWuestefeld 16y ago
  Not just that, but you'd think that they could work with Sony to come up with a DoD-spec version that had lower cost, but cost the same (without the manufacturer subsidy). Then Sony might be willing to support them. The OP alludes to the wasted controllers, and surely the DoD could help Sony save money on those. But there are other components that they wouldn't care about. The actual video and audio output is useless and could be excluded. Does the device come with Blueray? That could be replaced by an off-the-shelf DVD drive to save a bunch of money. Maybe swap in a rack-mountable case, which wouldn't save money for Sony, but would be more attractive to DoD.
  - fragmede 16y ago
    Congratulations, you've invented the IBM BladeCenter (QS22 - (http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/hardware/servers/qs22/ http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/hardware/servers/q...)
gaius 16y ago
The military will spend $5000 on a toilet seat, I'm sure they'd be willing to buy a PS3 at what it costs.
- jrwoodruff 16y ago
  Slightly off-topic, but if haven't read this article explaining why a contractor would bill out a hammer at $600, it's a good read: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1298/120798t1.htm http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1298/120798t1.htm
- hga 16y ago
  Except like most of these stories it was a lie. It was an injection molded waste receptacle cover for the toilets. Given that this was for the huge C-5 air transport, which could be carrying, shall I say, a s..t-load of men on long flights, that weight was at a premium in the design of the aircraft and the expensive tooling was amortized over very few total units for this sort of thing ... well, you can do the math. The C-5's coffee machines are pretty expensive as well....
greyfade 16y ago
Staying profitable is all well and good, but the argument that this won't translate into profitable returns is, IMO, bull. Sony has recently said that the PS3 hardware will be profitable this year, if it isn't already.

by ericz 16y ago

kixxauth 16y ago

Sony could have done better to collaborate with the military and other researchers to leverage the PS3 super computer status into the PS3 brand itself.

CWuestefeld 16y ago
Not just that, but you'd think that they could work with Sony to come up with a DoD-spec version that had lower cost, but cost the same (without the manufacturer subsidy). Then Sony might be willing to support them. The OP alludes to the wasted controllers, and surely the DoD could help Sony save money on those. But there are other components that they wouldn't care about. The actual video and audio output is useless and could be excluded. Does the device come with Blueray? That could be replaced by an off-the-shelf DVD drive to save a bunch of money. Maybe swap in a rack-mountable case, which wouldn't save money for Sony, but would be more attractive to DoD.
- fragmede 16y ago
  Congratulations, you've invented the IBM BladeCenter (QS22 - (http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/hardware/servers/qs22/ http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/bladecenter/hardware/servers/q...)

gaius 16y ago

The military will spend $5000 on a toilet seat, I'm sure they'd be willing to buy a PS3 at what it costs.

jrwoodruff 16y ago
Slightly off-topic, but if haven't read this article explaining why a contractor would bill out a hammer at $600, it's a good read: http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1298/120798t1.htm http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1298/120798t1.htm
hga 16y ago
Except like most of these stories it was a lie. It was an injection molded waste receptacle cover for the toilets. Given that this was for the huge C-5 air transport, which could be carrying, shall I say, a s..t-load of men on long flights, that weight was at a premium in the design of the aircraft and the expensive tooling was amortized over very few total units for this sort of thing ... well, you can do the math. The C-5's coffee machines are pretty expensive as well....

greyfade 16y ago

Staying profitable is all well and good, but the argument that this won't translate into profitable returns is, IMO, bull. Sony has recently said that the PS3 hardware will be profitable this year, if it isn't already.