Sony Announces the PlayStation 4 and the Death of Hardware

They didn't mention anything about the hardware, and you've jumped to the conclusion that this means hardware is dead? Talk about linkbait...

Gamers may not care about hardware aesthetics (the original Xbox is a fat, ugly hunk of cheap plastic), but they sure as hell care about the technical aspects. E.g. Is it backwards compatible? Will it play used games? Can I take my save data to a friend's house? Can I replace the HDD if it fails or I run out of space? Etc.

I worked with Mark Cerny (who presented yesterday) on Crash Bandicoot, and even by HN luminary standards he is a god-like superhero. Given that he's evidently played a key role in developing the PS4, I seriously doubt anyone will be disappointed when they see the physical machine. Sony probably just didn't want to leak details that could help competitors.

Sony didn't talk about hardware, because the PS4 doesn't really differentiate itself with the next-gen xbox hardware-wise.

You'll have two main variables to consider:

- which (or both) slightly differentiated but mostly-overlapping game library do you want access to

- do you want to give money to the company that installed spyware via music CDs, or the company that gave us IE6, Vista, and chair-throwing CEOs?

I think of every dollar I spend as a vote on the kind of future I want. Neither MS nor Sony get a dime from me these days.

I'm not sure that our (asserted) collective lack of interest in console aesthetics implies the 'Death of Hardware'. Honestly, that's a bit of a link bait claim with virtually no argument that makes any sense to back it up.

They said all the specs up front: PlayStation 4 with 8-core x86 processor, 8GB GDDR5 memory and DualShock 4 controller

They even gave more details specs later: http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2013/02/21/sony-announces-play...

Fulfills my contention that in advertising/promotion, specs are an excuse for inadequacy. Most users don't care what the numbers are, they just want the darn thing to just work. Apple has brilliantly embraced this, reducing admission of specifications (ex.: iPad RAM content) and pushing technology to the point where it just doesn't matter (ex.: "retina" displays - nobody cares how many pixels 'cuz you can't see them). Sony has long been prolific in their specifications, which as a then-fanboy I learned were hard limits more fulfilling of marketing checkboxes than usable performance (ex.: yes, it's a 50GB drive; no, you can't use 10GB of it because we're obligated to store "installation copies" of software which you can't get to). Maybe Sony is realizing that, to most users, it doesn't matter what hardware the games run on, just that they DO run and convincingly so.

They also seemed to have announced the Death of Software, as purchased content will not transfer over to the new console[1].

Edit: This comment came off as more trolling than intended. My point is that it's fantastic that they're focusing on software and services. However, they're simultaneously indicating that software and services are to be disposed with along with the hardware. My hunch is that consumer expectations have moved on from this due to services such as the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and to some extend Netflix and Rdio.

[1] http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/21/sony-psn-games-wont-trans...

My guess is that in the future the device in your living room is more or less just a PC which is streaming content (games, movies, music) to you. You pay for a subscription to the playstation network/xbox live/steam to get the content they offer, but they are rendered in the cloud and streamed to you. I tried some of Gaikais game demos last year and was very impressed at how well it worked. Of course for the mass market this is atleast 5 years away, but its coming!

As even games are now moving to the cloud, i wonder how much longer the computing power of your local device really matters. The quality of your internet connection is getting increasingly more important than your hardware.

So if the hardware is going to die, what will we run our software on?

Ok, what the article says is that nobody is going to care about the hardware. But if they want me to pay for it, I want to know what I'll get. I'm sure others feel the same.

I don't know if hardware is dead, but I think this announcement is the death of PowerPC

All Apple hardware is lavished with extreme attention. People still gravitate to pretty physical things and users mostly want the software to just get out of their way.

Hardware is certainly not dead, especially if there is a box consumers will be going to best buy to pick up. Also, parent's will have no ability to remember whether they need a Playstation, Playstation 2, Playstation 360, Playstation wii, Playstation Nintendo, or Playstation 4. The hardware, at least it's appearance, will be heavily marketed.

They discussed for a good hour about the specs only and how/why they ended up designing it this way (they consulted developers). So, basically the architecture is a very powerful PC in a custom configuration: 8-core x86 CPU and custom GPU on same chip, unified 8GB GDDR5 RAM.

What they didn't show is the physical design, which is a good move because the device isn't launched until later. They'll be able to get in the news again when they show the design / launch the device.

How is physical hardware becoming less relevant when it's all about "how well it performs"and "how it interfaces with its users"? Hardware is a great factor in both of those.

Physical aesthetics of game consoles have never been fussed over that much (at least among geek/core gamer audiences). PCs were the same in the past. The current "industrial design boom" that Apple started is historically the exception. And yeah, something you hold in your hands and keep on your person vs. something you keep under your TV makes a big difference - note they did show the controller (the part you interact with directly).

Hardware isn't dead. Sony just stopped using it a selling point because the average consumer doesn't care what the hardware is, just what the device can do.

I wonder how dead an issue it will be if vents are in the wrong place and it overheats within an hour, or if the fan sounds like the wailing of a thousand banshees.... and so on.

I'm not saying the PS4 will have these issues, but we all hope it doesn't, and that's firmly in the hardware domain.

Except physical hardware kind of does matter. In the case of the new Xbox, as well the new MS Office, whatever software you buy is locked to the device it's purchased on for life, no matter what.

Have a PC/console die on you? Guess you'll be buying all new software.

I didn't really cared about not seeing the device case. They made public the specs ( 8 GB FTW) so that was more important than seeing a empty case.

This is not the death of the hardware, it's the death of the hardware form factor (or design). The hardware is still important.