Sr. Pessimist

Sony's PS3 Will Underperform its Predecessor

I think the issue is Sony, like other large corporations, underinvests in talent. In order to successfully deliver a computer system, you need the right decisions made from beginning to end. The Sony PS3 pricing is not feasible. The Blu-Ray concept is too much of a stretch on the blue laser technology to achieve the relatively small extra capacity on the discs (compared to HD-DVD). The game system is an overkill for what it is intended to do. They focused more on showing off their technology than on making money. Microsoft, on the other hand, is really good at making money. The Internet is essential for income from gaming, and they obviously made accomodations to get their gamers online and deliver the gaming experience their customers were ready and willing to pay for. If Sony would have talked to somebody other than a "top university hot-shot" business graduate, son of a rich daddy (or thereabouts), then they would have heard the truth of the matter, which is the realistic element of dependable delivery of their product. If they hired good engineers that focus on logic instead of kissing up, the engineers could have told them that this wasn't going to happen. But as soon as you give up the skills you need for something that counts, you've gone the American way. Short-term profits are appealing to investors, but they suck long-term. So I feel it serves Sony well to have failed to recruit quality workers. I think it's high time companies pay talent what it's worth.