patsu said:
archie4oz, I consider them half-baked not (only) for technical reasons but from a consumer product perspective.
The problem is that the consumer perspective isn't consistent either. Every consumer has a different interpretation of what a specific feature is, and what they want. Let's tak yours:
patsu said:
Even though XMB was probably considered "feature complete", it initially had some output issues in "real-world" set ups. In-game XMB was only available in second year.
This is a good example. You seem to equate XMB to OS features, and they're not the same. XMB is simply a UI navigation paradigm and that's *all* it is. Additional features aren't improvements to XMB, they're additional applications and/or services added to the OS. In-game XMB is a fantastic example of something that you're equating as an update to XMB when in reality it's an OS kernel tasking improvement to allow more backround tasking (XMB is one beneficiary, PlayTV being another big beneficiary). IMO, in-game XMB was a very *BAD* idea to begin with and customers were asking for exactly the wrong feature (or more specifically demanded a series of features that were poorly labelled as "in-game XMB").
patsu said:
DiVx again was probably "done" from technical perspective. But the last mile to end user is far from delivered (What was/is the end user service for the technology ?). This is a common problem with Sony deliverables. There is no marketing support that extends the underlying technology to the end users.
The reason there is no last mile from Sony is because there isn't going to be. There's no need, we have our own VOD service. However DivX, Inc. does provide a platform for delivering VOD content to vendors who wish to do so, and as part of licensing DivX for set top devices you can configure said device to playback content from said VOD service. In otherwords it's a feature that's a part of the DivX license like so many other DivX license devices on the market. If you're really dying to use it, then go here and pick a service to use...
http://support.divx.com/anonymous_portal/FAQSearch.aspx?entityId=Q6UJ9A01B604
patsu said:
Playstation's Blu-ray support is one of the best (or THE best) in the industry, but the specs was not completed early enough for them to roll out BD-Live. This may not be Sony's fault but there were (are ?) rough edges like toggling between BD's 1080p output and the game's 720p output manually.
Again though, you're miscontsruing that as a Blu-Ray playback issue, when it's more of a system wide display output problem (mainly exacerbated by HDTVs that couldn't accept 720p inputs as well as there being no real requirement for Blu-Ray players to downscale content to 720p).
patsu said:
Moving into PSN domain, the situation worsens. Portable Game ID and Home are not technically complete even though they show great potential. I like Home and have been using it several times a day, but I think the project can use more people and better oversight. It almost feels like everyone in the team is a techie, and there is no product manager. Following the end users' requests is a tactic, not a strategy. Someone in Sony needs to paint the overall picture/strategy to consolidate all the relevant Playstation deliverables in Home (for example).
This is much bigger can of worms which I do agree with you (to the extent that I'm aware of). Part of the problem is how online services are structured. The PSN itself isn't one monolithic network, it's a bunch of services provided by different companies. Account management, login/auth, and stores are run by SMSS in San Diego and Los Angeles. The buddies, chat, messeging, etc. are on another system/service run by SCEI in Tokyo (I think). Playstation.com, is an old site completely separate from the PSN that's long been run by SCEA in Foster City (although I presume they're doing a lot of changes and migration as part of portable ID).
