Inside X360: Jeff Henshaw Interview Part One AND TWO

[scooby_dooby]

That 80gbps is for the backbone not to each subscriber

Oh my bad. The point is times a changing. And Sony wants their biggest, most noticable machine pushing the future along.

I doubt it's as noble as all that.

I think they did it for 2 reasons:

1) simply to one-up MS
2) to provide a fast connection to the external HD they will be trying to sell you in a couple years.

2.5" drives are expensive, especially for huge amounts of video. THe could offer external HD's in the 100's of gigs for fairly cheap, and they could be accessed by the highspeed network port.

Sony isn't gonna provide these simply to "push the future along" they are doing it with some profit making scheme in mind. Guaranteed.

 

[Guden Oden]

So what router / hub does sony have on the market guden oden ?

Qué?

What's your point here?

There is alot of work to be done in a router / hub to make it safe .

Note J, I said switch, not router. There are no gigabit hubs btw, those things are pretty much extinct even at 100mbit these days, switches are so cheap now there's no point in making dumb hubs.

 

[mckmas8808]

I doubt it's as noble as all that.

I think they did it for 2 reasons:

1) simply to one-up MS
2) to provide a fast connection to the external HD they will be trying to sell you in a couple years.

2.5" drives are expensive, especially for huge amounts of video. THe could offer external HD's in the 100's of gigs for fairly cheap, and they could be accessed by the highspeed network port.

Sony isn't gonna provide these simply to "push the future along" they are doing it with some profit making scheme in mind. Guaranteed.

I agree. Trying to one-up MS, providing a fast connection to an external HD, and making a profit is good for Sony right? Again Sony putting them in the system is a good idea, I just want to hear some uses at TGS.

 

[scooby_dooby]

I agree. Trying to one-up MS, providing a fast connection to an external HD, and making a profit is good for Sony right? Again Sony putting them in the system is a good idea, I just want to hear some uses at TGS.

Ya they have potential, interesting to hear their rationale behind them. You know they had to justify the decision with some sounds profit potential.

I wonder though, if it's really for an external HD why not just go with USB 2.0? Do most people really notice the difference between 480mbps and 1000mbps? Can a HD even read/write at 1000mbps?

 

[PC-Engine]

I agree. Trying to one-up MS, providing a fast connection to an external HD, and making a profit is good for Sony right? Again Sony putting them in the system is a good idea, I just want to hear some uses at TGS.

Ya they have potential, interesting to hear their rationale behind them. You know they had to justify the decision with some sounds profit potential.

I wonder though, if it's really for an external HD why not just go with USB 2.0? Do most people really notice the difference between 480mbps and 1000mbps? Can a HD even read/write at 1000mbps?

The Gb ethernet is for a future external Holographic disc drive.

 

[randycat99]

I wonder though, if it's really for an external HD why not just go with USB 2.0?

It's only a question to you, because you assumed it can be there only to support an external HD in the first place, chap. Once you step back from that assumption, the benefits of versatility should seem more obvious to you.

 

[scooby_dooby]

lol, didn't i just say I was "looking forward to their rationale behind it"?

 

[PC-Engine]

lol, didn't i just say I was "looking forward to their rationale behind it"?

I already told you, it's for a future HVD drive...

 

[mckmas8808]

lol, didn't i just say I was "looking forward to their rationale behind it"?

I already told you, it's for a future HVD drive...

Are you trying to ruin this thread? Why say something so crazy. The first time we gave you the benefit of the doubt, but you turn around and do it again. Why?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

1) simply to one-up MS

Why on EARTH would Sony use Ethernet connectors to one-up MS?! The majority of people out there have no idea what an Ethernet port is. They've no idea what Gigabit is. It has no impact whatsoever on the games they'll see in store.

Honestly, you think someone will walk into a games store, see GOW running on a $300 XB360, UT2007 on $350 PS3, and then settle on buying the PS3 because it has 3 Ethernet Ports?!?! Even if Ethernet ports matter to the masses, there a trillion other more important factors that'll sway their opinion long before they ever wonder how many Ethernet ports a machine has!

I think people lose perspective on the one-up-manship game. Hardware is designed to specs, with tight limits to keep costs as low as possible for the specs wanted. No-one's gonna be crazy enough to blow a few million on adding a couple of ports with the intention they don't do anything but look good on the case. If a port is included it's because the developer wants it to be used. 5+ million lost on extra ports could be spent much more effectively to promote a system through advertising.

 

[PC-Engine]

I think people lose perspective on the one-up-manship game. Hardware is designed to specs, with tight limits to keep costs as low as possible for the specs wanted. No-one's gonna be crazy enough to blow a few million on adding a couple of ports with the intention they don't do anything but look good on the case. If a port is included it's because the developer wants it to be used. 5+ million lost on extra ports could be spent much more effectively to promote a system through advertising.

If things were that simple. Witness the useless ports on PS2 and the subsequent removal of said ports to save costs in PSTwo...

 

[Phil]

It had nothing to do with PStwo... one port was removed on the latter PS2 models before the PStwo even came out.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

If things were that simple. Witness the useless ports on PS2 and the subsequent removal of said ports to save costs in PSTwo...

And if you believe the Firewire port was added just to add a useless feature, you'll be mistaken. It was included for networking and media functions according to KK's intentions. In Sony fashion, they provided the hardware but didn't implement any uses. The port nevers got used, so in subsequent revisions the port was removed for cost reasons. If the port was never intended to be used, it would never have been included for those very same cost reasons. Same with the expansion bay. They had intentions and later revision of the hardware and PS2's future decided it wasn't any use so Sony removed it.

 

[one]

I think they did it for 2 reasons:
1) simply to one-up MS
2) to provide a fast connection to the external HD they will be trying to sell you in a couple years.

FYI, Kutaragi already talked about in-home realtime Cell computing and Gigabit Ethernet in an interview in 2003.
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2003/0901/kaigai015.htm
(machine translation)
To be accurate, he wanted a plastic optical fiber or 10Gigabit Ethernet. So even GbE is just a compromised bottom line.

 

[PC-Engine]

If things were that simple. Witness the useless ports on PS2 and the subsequent removal of said ports to save costs in PSTwo...

And if you believe the Firewire port was added just to add a useless feature, you'll be mistaken. It was included for networking and media functions according to KK's intentions. In Sony fashion, they provided the hardware but didn't implement any uses. The port nevers got used, so in subsequent revisions the port was removed for cost reasons. If the port was never intended to be used, it would never have been included for those very same cost reasons. Same with the expansion bay. They had intentions and later revision of the hardware and PS2's future decided it wasn't any use so Sony removed it.

Exactly, that's why this Gb ethernet looks like it'll follow the same trend or as Randycat99 would say, "solution looking for a problem"...oh the irony.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Well one of them is for the HD camera. The others might well go by the wayside, if KK's latest schemes get as far as his previous, but they certainly won't put in just to attract customer to the wealth of Gigabit connectors!!

 

[Ty]

If things were that simple. Witness the useless ports on PS2 and the subsequent removal of said ports to save costs in PSTwo...

And the digital port on the GCN? The one that got removed for later revisions? Hell, that port's lifespan was far far less than the one that got removed for the PSTwo.

Good thing I got one for my component cable.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Why on EARTH would Sony use Ethernet connectors to one-up MS?! The majority of people out there have no idea what an Ethernet port is. They've no idea what Gigabit is. It has no impact whatsoever on the games they'll see in store.

Sony's strategy is plainly obvious.

Convince people that the PS3 is superior in everyway, therefore convincing them to wait for the superior machine. Hopefully blunting the X360's intitial sales and reducing the gap that they will need to make up.

Do you agree?

Do you think it was concidence that every single spec released for PS3 was superior on paper to the X360?

Granted most people have no clue what a gigabit port is, but it just adds to the overall "notion" that PS3 is a superior piece of hardware. That it important when so called "journalists" make proclamations about the more powerful system, they take things like this into account.

On it's own gigabit ports don't mean anything, but it's simply one more column on the spoec sheet that looks superior. Like I said earlier, they MUST have other reasons for including it, to justify the costs to their board members they must have a profit making scheme in mind, that doesn't mean appearing superior to the X360 wasn't ONE of the reasons.

 

[AlNom]

Part two is up
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/xbox360_inside_02.asp

Original post updated as well.

 

[TrungGap]

You know what's funny? I think both $ony and Micro$oft have different strategies. Micro$oft's approach is more formulated. You envision a product. You throw it out there...Wait for the feedback, adjust your product and try again. M$ has used this tactic with every one of its product. Remember Windows 1.0, 3.0? Xbox 1, was it's first attempt. It will continue to fine tune its product until it's one complete package. Much like M$ Office.

I personally don't think $ony has any grand plan (wild guess). Why? Because when you don't a vision for your product/business, you throw everything out to the market and hopefully something will stick. It's a shotgun approach. Basically, they're providing the platform in which they hope someone else will make something out of.

Why 3 Gb ethernet ports? Possible usages/reasons are distributed computing. Linking up multiple PS3 to create on massive power gaming/multimedia experience. Personally, I don't think developer going to bite this one. Because creating a multi-threaded game is hard enough let alone distributed computing. If PS3 going to multimedia hub, does it need 3Gb ethernet ports? Beside one can assume if you have an ethernet port coming into the PS3, you would already have a home network. Small lan party? True, you wouldn't need to carry a network hub/switch to connect multiple consoles together, but remember that (IIRC) you can only have up to 3 ethernet segments before you need a smart/intelligent router.

Realistically, all the features they're adding are really for a niche market. Dual HDMI, 3Gb ethernet ports and multiple memory slots. All of which are nice to have, but they really appeal to niche market. How many going to have dual HDTV? How many going to have a small lan party without a network infrastructure already? How many prefer to manage their pictures on PS3 instead of a PC? (Actually, I think the 6 USB ports are good, because I'm not sure I like changing batteries on the wireless controllers. Once or twice a month is too often).

Anyway, my point? Don't try to expect much of a plan from $ony. Look else where. See what other companies and people are brainstorming how they're going to utilizes these *value added* ports.