360 is a PC

In response to someone arguing [link|http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2007/03/stirring-microsoft-comment-pot-on.html#c529414942691542281|Lets assume that MS sells 100 million or more xbox 360s], Keeperplanet [link|http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2007/03/stirring-microsoft-comment-pot-on.html#c3382715490739051481|writes]:

You need to look at the big picture. Xbox and Xbox 360 was a great investment.Microsoft has lost more money on dumber things that NEVER worked out. Its just a matter of how fast can MS cost reduce the hardware.

I am an industrial designer and entrepreneur so I have been kicking these kinds of calculations around for about 30 years now. The fact is you will never reduce cost of the hardware unless you take the Wii route (its a toy stupid) and also limit the performance of your device--simply because the market is and will be demanding a vast number of solutions that Microsoft can never hope to provide in terms of hardware. It is a never ending battle which Microsoft had correct with its original strategy of software is pure profit (until you get sucked under by service packs).

The other option is to release XBOX division from its chains to Microsoft, which would make it a direct competitor with both Apple and Microsoft primary customers like HP and Dell, as well as Sony.

You have no choice here. Either you do that or you get out of the business of competing with your customers by building hardware. Nasty business that.

[...]

It makes sense, but new markets are created all the time. Few companies in history have had the mountain of cash that MS has and the apparent willingness to burn it at the rate of billions of dollars a year. Even if the 360 never makes money for them, they may figure that it weakens Sony and so makes sense to have it around. Of course, if they actually came out and actually said so rather than claiming it'll be a moneymaker, the antitrust folks and institutional shareholders wouldn't be happy about it...

Cheers,
Scott.

Post #279,455 by JayMehaffey 3/24/07 11:44:04 PM Reply	360 is a PC The XBox 360 is a PC in a small poorly ventilated case. And yes I know the 360 is less of a PC then the original was. But the point stands. Jay
Post #279,471 by pwhysall 3/25/07 6:26:38 AM Reply	Nah, tisn't It's a cell-processor wossname. Still runs hot and loud, though. Peter [link\|http://www.no2id.net/\|Don't Let The Terrorists Win] [link\|http://www.kuro5hin.org\|There is no K5 Cabal] [link\|http://guildenstern.dyndns.org\|Home] Use P2P for legitimate purposes! [link\|http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?pwhysall\|A better terminal emulator] [image\|http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h262/pwhysall/Misc/saveus.png\|0\|Darwinia\|\|]
Post #279,510 by folkert 3/25/07 2:44:19 PM Reply	PowerPC you mean. Still loud and hot. -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey* Freedom is not FREE. Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars? SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0; 0 rows returned.
Post #279,534 by admin 3/25/07 8:24:14 PM Reply	Thought that was the PS/3... Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #279,543 by inthane-chan 3/25/07 10:14:28 PM Reply	They both are. The XBox uses 3 Cell processors, while the PS3 uses a single Cell with 7 or 8 coprocessors, I don't remember all the details right now. Odoru aho ni miru aho! Onaji aho nara odoranya son son!
Post #279,545 by Another Scott 3/25/07 10:21:48 PM Reply	Linkies. [link\|http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/9906/IBM-Reveals-Details-of-Xbox-360-CPU-Design/\|Xbox 360 Processor]. [link\|http://www.ddj.com/dept/64bit/197801624\|The Cell Broadband Engine used in the PS3]. Cheers, Scott.
Post #279,547 by crazy 3/25/07 10:24:54 PM Reply	You sure? I'm sure the XBox 360 uses a 3 core PowerPC chip. Is the cell processor an offshoot of the PowerPC, or a unique architecture?
Post #279,555 by admin 3/25/07 11:55:26 PM Reply	No, I don't think so... ObLRPD: These boys weren't too bright. Regards, -scott anderson "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
Post #279,573 by folkert 3/26/07 3:34:14 AM Reply	Oh boy, not again! obLRPD: It's hard to legislate for a stupid audience. -- [link\|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net\|greg], [link\|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry\|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] @ *i_wethey* Freedom is not FREE. Yeah, but 10s of Trillions of US Dollars? SELECT * FROM scog WHERE ethics > 0; 0 rows returned.
Post #279,482 by Another Scott 3/25/07 9:56:17 AM Reply	Interesting comment on the 360 at Mini-Microsoft. In response to someone arguing [link\|http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2007/03/stirring-microsoft-comment-pot-on.html#c529414942691542281\|Lets assume that MS sells 100 million or more xbox 360s], Keeperplanet [link\|http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2007/03/stirring-microsoft-comment-pot-on.html#c3382715490739051481\|writes]: You need to look at the big picture. Xbox and Xbox 360 was a great investment.Microsoft has lost more money on dumber things that NEVER worked out. Its just a matter of how fast can MS cost reduce the hardware. I am an industrial designer and entrepreneur so I have been kicking these kinds of calculations around for about 30 years now. The fact is you will never reduce cost of the hardware unless you take the Wii route (its a toy stupid) and also limit the performance of your device--simply because the market is and will be demanding a vast number of solutions that Microsoft can never hope to provide in terms of hardware. It is a never ending battle which Microsoft had correct with its original strategy of software is pure profit (until you get sucked under by service packs). The other option is to release XBOX division from its chains to Microsoft, which would make it a direct competitor with both Apple and Microsoft primary customers like HP and Dell, as well as Sony. You have no choice here. Either you do that or you get out of the business of competing with your customers by building hardware. Nasty business that. [...] It makes sense, but new markets are created all the time. Few companies in history have had the mountain of cash that MS has and the apparent willingness to burn it at the rate of billions of dollars a year. Even if the 360 never makes money for them, they may figure that it weakens Sony and so makes sense to have it around. Of course, if they actually came out and actually said so rather than claiming it'll be a moneymaker, the antitrust folks and institutional shareholders wouldn't be happy about it... Cheers, Scott.

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