That's actually a pretty awesome idea for a youtube spoof/skit. Bravo my friend. I am tempted to film it myself.

So SONY in their latest ToS has basically admitted that they believe they have carte blanche over hardware you payed between $300-$600 dollars for. Not counting accessories and purchases. Yes. With 3.21 this only affected linux and it was optional (arguably). But from 3.30 forward SONYs stance is they can AUTOMATICALLY and WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION update the console. The updates can add/remove features, capabilities, even content you have bought and paid for and you (in their eyes) can't do a thing about it. GeoHot was right. This isn't about Linux anymore. This is about who owns what you paid for.

Buying a device that promises to do A, B, and C. Then being told after the purchase that you have to pick "A" or "B and C" is not much of a choice. Even if I do nothing I loose advertised features (no PSN, no games or movies that require a firmware update). If I do update I loose real time AVC encoding: http://codecsys.fixstars.com/en/

I called SONY customer relations to chat with them about the dropping of linux in their latest PS3 update. After very civily conveying my dismay at their decision to punish honest users of the PS3 by retro-actively ripping out the previously advertised, supported, and paid for "Other OS" feature I asked what they could do for me to even things up for effectively turning my non ps2 compatible fat into an oversized-overpriced slim. Their answer: "Sir I take hundreds of calls a day and you are the first to call and complain about this particular issue." Linux fans, PS3 owners who are linux fans... If that statement is true I'm dissappointed in you. 1-800-345-7669 (SONY) Hours: Mon-Sat 6:00AM-8:00PM / Sun 7:00AM-6:30PM PT If you are going to call be civil. But make it clear their action hasn't gone unnoticed and is unnacceptable. According to a friend of mine who has also called if you want to escalate it further, you can apparently call 1-866-286-5123 Monday through Friday from 8am-5:30pm Pacific time, a.k.a. 11am-8:30pm Eastern. They need to know just how much this bothers their customers. The impression I have so far is that it's not even a blip on their radar.

Actually I read somewhere that if you bought it within 30 days of the new products release (and kept your receipt) upgrading you to the next version for free is not uncommon.

Thank you. You have inspired me to go to the Best Buy in the US that I purchased my PS3 (with other OS) and see where they stand. I too paid the price premium of being an early adopter so I could run linux. The way I see it SONY owes me at least the price difference between the PS3 fat I bought. and the slim they've basically turned it into.

As the owner of a quad core with an Nvidia 8800 I am constantly underwhelmed by applications (3D, Video Editing, power point... basically everything that's not a game) performing absolutely mediocre because they don't take advantage of even basic acceleration capabilities of my sound and graphics hardware. What the hell is the point of having built in mpeg or dolby 5.1 enc/dec if nothing uses it? I might as well still be using my SB16. My video card is supposed to be able to decompress avc natively but my NLE stupidly throws it at the cpu making my 512mb 8800 no more effective than a 16mb Voodoo Banshee. I don't care if it's office, my web browser, or Adobe Premiere. I bought a bangin GPU because I wanted my apps to use it. Microsoft can't clean up the millions of crappy web pages out there by releasing a new browser. They can however make those millions of crappy web pages hog less of the CPU.

Mod parent up. It's not flamebait it's reality. The rich or even just the "more affluent" buy their playstation 3, blu rays, ATVs, BMWs, etc... all subject to sales tax. Since the purchases are huge the taxes they contribute will be huge. While the less affluent will buy toyotas, wiis, dvds, etc... although subject to the same sales tax they are much cheaper purchases. So these folks will (individually) pay less in taxes over the course of a consumer year. Then take the even less affluent, folks that have no video games, no wii, and perhaps a handful of VHS tapes they got from freecycle... they are technically subject to the same sales tax but put pay a lot less over the course of a consumer year because they make far fewer taxable purchases. Sales tax sucks but it's a totally fair system. Whether you are a corporation or an individual the more money you have and throw around the more you have to pay into the system. But the % is flat across the board and there are no exceptions... well except non-profits. :-)

I am dissapointed in the that this is: a) The only LOST reference in this whole chain of responses. b) Not modded funny. Are we the only two LOST fans reading this post? Come on people!

Actually you guys get tons of tech before we do. I remember being in a McDonalds in Toronto 10 years ago and being asked "Cash or Card eh?" I was like "what? Er... Cash." I was amazed... Turns out Canada had this amazing system called interact that would let you swipe your credit card just like you were at an atm. It was everywhere. Meanwhile for the next 4 years or so in the US of A we all still had to carry around cash. Hats off to you folks for embracing technology! :)

I see you are writting a "Funny". Might I suggest: 1) An "in soviet russia..." comment 2) A covert link to goatse 3) Asking if it runs linux ?

archos. http://www.archos.com/ The 9 in particular can run a complete desktop os (it ships with Windows7). But they have scaled down versions that run android and linux. The 9 can be had in its basic configuration for $550. It's stock configuration is on par with the iPad processing wise and blows it away on the openness and additional features front. Built in web cam, standard usb ports, 60gb hd.

Sirius Cybernetic Corporation!? That bunch of mindless jerks!? I swear they'll be the first with their backs against the wall when the revolution comes.