Is this for real?
The moment I read the comments I was like, "this is so different from the view people have on HN". Also I am sure these are kids who just swear by their consoles. Sadly they are Sony's biggest chunk of consumers.
I thought that hackers and playstation 3 "owners" would be on the same side, given that the ultimate question here is whether they really own the console or not.
It also depends on what motivations you assign to geohot. I wouldn't have much sympathy for him if I thought his intention was to pirate video games.
Which isn't to say that Sony has handled this well: they're still incompetent and Evil.
I can see how people might worry that if using PS3s for non-gaming becomes widespread, Sony might feel the need to raise the price to make up for the loss.
Apparently, Anonymous took down the PSN for some time in protest to the litigation. I'm sure that galvanized the viewpoint of some Playstation users who may not have even been aware of the bigger picture.