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I am not sure how a comparison between gaming consoles is relevant here. If you are going to mention gaming consoles, I'll take the liberty of mentioning person

I am not sure how a comparison between gaming consoles is relevant here. If you are going to mention gaming consoles, I'll take the liberty of mentioning personal computing devices such as laptops or desktops. Imagine not being able to install the apps of your choice and being restricted to Apple approved apps. Also, you haven't made clear how giving users the freedom to install apps of their choice contributes to a negative user experience.

Retric 7y ago
Consoles are a fairly direct comparison so the link is obvious. Still, if you’re talking about running arbitrary software then try loading “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy” on your PC or laptop. It’s not going to work, because you’re always limited to a subset of software on any platform PC or otherwise. As to a negative user experience, console gaming won largely due to the lack of software issues. There are several reason for this, but inability to install random software really is one of them.
- dangerface 7y ago
  There is a huge difference between a software company adding support to run on a device and a hardware company preventing supported software from running on a device.
  - falcolas 7y ago
    In that case, run Factorio on a PS4. The CPU and GPU are compatible, so why can’t I run Factorio on my PS4?
    - tomatotomato37 7y ago
      Because Sony also runs a walled garden and artificially gates their hardware. The existence of an open pasture software marketplace doesn't magically make other walled gardens disappear.
    - widowlark 7y ago
      For the same reason we are upset at apple, you should be upset at Sony.
- danShumway 7y ago
  > if you’re talking about running arbitrary software then try loading “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy” on your PC or laptop. See https://pcsx4.com/compatibility/ https://pcsx4.com/compatibility/ The fact that consoles don't allow side-loading apps is a relatively common criticism of consoles, and one that hackers regularly try to fix. I'm grateful for that. I rather like being able to run emulators on my 3DS, or being able to back up save files from the Switch. Of course, people don't get as upset about locked down consoles, because consoles are a superfluous entertainment device -- consoles don't really matter for anything. Phones are a lot closer to a laptop in functionality than they are to a console, and the effects of restricting software on a phone are more directly equivalent to restricting software on a computer than on a pure entertainment device.
  - Retric 7y ago
    That’s a scam: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ocqJ6_Nqw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ocqJ6_Nqw
    - danShumway 7y ago
      Very nice catch, thanks. That being said, substitute out this program for something like Dolphin with the Wii, and I think the point still stands. There are people working on circumventing cross-platform restrictions for just about every console out there, even in cases where the restrictions are technological and not just policy.
- computerex 7y ago
  > Consoles are a fairly direct comparison so the link is obvious. It's not obvious to me, please elaborate with reasoning. > Still, if you’re talking about running arbitrary software then try loading “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy” on your PC or laptop. It’s not going to work, because you’re always limited to a subset of software on any platform PC or otherwise. This is due to Sony trying to push sales for PS4 by developing games exclusive to PS4. It's not the same thing at all. If Sony wanted to support Windows as a platform, they are free to do so. > There are several reason for this, but inability to install random software really is one of them. What are you basing this claim on?
  - Retric 7y ago
    > Elaborate reasoning Mass market internet capable consumer devices, with significant compute hardware used to run a wide range of software. That’s a rather narrow list of device categories. > What are you basing this on? Malware for one thing. But, also things like driver compatibility, it’s simpler to develop software for well defined ecosystems which consoles provide. Many non exclusive ports don’t happen because it’s surprisingly expensive to port triple A games the PC. > It's not the same thing at all. If you want to nitpick that then fine, Red Dead Redemption is on PS4 and XBox box, but never made the PC jump. Porting AAA games to PC is surprisingly expensive, even if getting it to almost work is cheap. But, it’s vastly more widespread than that. Just try to load some of that realtime software running inside your car on a desktop it’s simply not designed for it.
    - enriquto 7y ago
      > Not likening the reasoning does not remove the limitation. But it’s vastly more widespread than that. Just try to load some of that realtime software running inside your car on a desktop it’s simply not designed for it. This is a bogus argument for the case of the safety app. There is people who wrote a functioning program designed specifically for the iphone, that other people were already using on their phones. Then apple, a third party, removed the right of people to continue sharing a correctly functioning program on their own devices. The iphone is clearly designed to run arbitrary software and it already did in this case, before apple's callous interference.

Retric 7y ago

Consoles are a fairly direct comparison so the link is obvious. Still, if you’re talking about running arbitrary software then try loading “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy” on your PC or laptop. It’s not going to work, because you’re always limited to a subset of software on any platform PC or otherwise. As to a negative user experience, console gaming won largely due to the lack of software issues. There are several reason for this, but inability to install random software really is one of them.

dangerface 7y ago
There is a huge difference between a software company adding support to run on a device and a hardware company preventing supported software from running on a device.
- falcolas 7y ago
  In that case, run Factorio on a PS4. The CPU and GPU are compatible, so why can’t I run Factorio on my PS4?
  - tomatotomato37 7y ago
    Because Sony also runs a walled garden and artificially gates their hardware. The existence of an open pasture software marketplace doesn't magically make other walled gardens disappear.
  - widowlark 7y ago
    For the same reason we are upset at apple, you should be upset at Sony.
danShumway 7y ago
> if you’re talking about running arbitrary software then try loading “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy” on your PC or laptop. See https://pcsx4.com/compatibility/ https://pcsx4.com/compatibility/ The fact that consoles don't allow side-loading apps is a relatively common criticism of consoles, and one that hackers regularly try to fix. I'm grateful for that. I rather like being able to run emulators on my 3DS, or being able to back up save files from the Switch. Of course, people don't get as upset about locked down consoles, because consoles are a superfluous entertainment device -- consoles don't really matter for anything. Phones are a lot closer to a laptop in functionality than they are to a console, and the effects of restricting software on a phone are more directly equivalent to restricting software on a computer than on a pure entertainment device.
- Retric 7y ago
  That’s a scam: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ocqJ6_Nqw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k3ocqJ6_Nqw
  - danShumway 7y ago
    Very nice catch, thanks. That being said, substitute out this program for something like Dolphin with the Wii, and I think the point still stands. There are people working on circumventing cross-platform restrictions for just about every console out there, even in cases where the restrictions are technological and not just policy.
computerex 7y ago
> Consoles are a fairly direct comparison so the link is obvious. It's not obvious to me, please elaborate with reasoning. > Still, if you’re talking about running arbitrary software then try loading “Uncharted: The Lost Legacy” on your PC or laptop. It’s not going to work, because you’re always limited to a subset of software on any platform PC or otherwise. This is due to Sony trying to push sales for PS4 by developing games exclusive to PS4. It's not the same thing at all. If Sony wanted to support Windows as a platform, they are free to do so. > There are several reason for this, but inability to install random software really is one of them. What are you basing this claim on?
- Retric 7y ago
  > Elaborate reasoning Mass market internet capable consumer devices, with significant compute hardware used to run a wide range of software. That’s a rather narrow list of device categories. > What are you basing this on? Malware for one thing. But, also things like driver compatibility, it’s simpler to develop software for well defined ecosystems which consoles provide. Many non exclusive ports don’t happen because it’s surprisingly expensive to port triple A games the PC. > It's not the same thing at all. If you want to nitpick that then fine, Red Dead Redemption is on PS4 and XBox box, but never made the PC jump. Porting AAA games to PC is surprisingly expensive, even if getting it to almost work is cheap. But, it’s vastly more widespread than that. Just try to load some of that realtime software running inside your car on a desktop it’s simply not designed for it.
  - enriquto 7y ago
    > Not likening the reasoning does not remove the limitation. But it’s vastly more widespread than that. Just try to load some of that realtime software running inside your car on a desktop it’s simply not designed for it. This is a bogus argument for the case of the safety app. There is people who wrote a functioning program designed specifically for the iphone, that other people were already using on their phones. Then apple, a third party, removed the right of people to continue sharing a correctly functioning program on their own devices. The iphone is clearly designed to run arbitrary software and it already did in this case, before apple's callous interference.