US Air Force To Suffer From PS3 Update 349
tlhIngan writes "The US Air Force, having purchased PS3s for supercomputing research, is now the latest victim of Sony's removal of the Install Other OS feature. It turns out that while their PS3s don't need the firmware update, it will be impossible to replace PS3s that fail. PS3s with the Other OS feature are no longer produced since the Slim was introduced, so replacements will have to come from the existing stock of used PS3s. However, as most gamers have probably updated their PS3s, that used stock is no longer suitable for the USAF's research. In addition, smaller educational clusters using PS3s will share the same fate — unable to replace machines that die in their clusters."
In related news, Sony has been hit with two more lawsuits over this issue.
Re:Obvious outcome (Score:5, Informative)
Had their algorithm not suited Cell, the PS3 would have been an absurd choice. Since it did, though, it was actually pretty sensible(barring Sony's hard-to-predict action).
Re:Opportunity? (Score:1, Informative)
This will be a good opportunity for the government to see how good hacking/jailbreaking/etc. is ...
If the fix would void the hardware warranty/support warranty that USAF has with Sony, there is no way the USAF would jailbreak those PS3s. In the end, this is not a decision one man is making about the PS3 cluster he owns.
This was already an issue (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Sony's angle (Score:1, Informative)
You are a 360 fanboiy and don't even know it sir.
Here are this weeks game sales numbers on a newer games just out on both platforms.
Super Street Fighter IV
PS3 sales: 280,049
X360 sales: 189,897
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa
PS3 sales:157,589
x360 sales: 112,275
It looks to me like the PS3 is now .destroying. the xbox 360 in terms of game sales. The WII is really a different market and I don't think the xbox or ps3 'lost' to them, the WII just opened up a new untouched market that everyone else wish they had a part of :}
Source http://www.vgchartz.com/weekly.php?date=40307&boxartz=1#
(The first hit on a google search for game sales)
what about folding? (Score:3, Informative)
makes ya wonder what will happen to the Folding@Home client stats [stanford.edu] as PS3s die off and aren't replaced.
And who suffers in the end? Sick kids.
Oh, will someone think of the children!
Re:what about folding? (Score:1, Informative)
I thought even the Slims could fold?
Besides, GPUs knock the socks off the PS3 for folding. Just at the time the GPU client wasn't out so the PS3 was better than x86
Re:COTS = COST (Score:3, Informative)
But those are expensive, defeating the purpose of using PS3s in the first place. They could have gone to IBM and bulk ordered a pile of CELL equipped blade servers but its cheaper to buy the PS3 which Sony, like every other console manufacturer, sells below cost and make up the difference with game sales.
Re:Sony is a terrorist organization (Score:3, Informative)
I don't think the government buys anything from Sony, other than a few consumer electronics for conference room. Most of the time the government purchases from dedicated contractors like Lockheed, Northrop, Raytheon, et cetera.
BTW:
A number of those contractors have discovered that dicking with the U.S. Military (example: employees mischarging time) leads to serious consequences. Like millions of dollars in fines. I hope the USAF makes an example of Sony and drags them through the court system, for their false advertising scheme.
Re:Oops! (Score:4, Informative)
[Citation]
17 U.S.C. 1201(e) (1998)
Exception for Law Enforcement and Intelligence Activities. The DMCA permits circumvention for any lawfully authorized investigative, protective, or intelligence activity by or at the direction of a federal, state, or local law enforcement agency, or of an intelligence agency of the United States.
Re:not necessarily impossible (Score:2, Informative)
Re:COTS = COST (Score:5, Informative)
[...] but its cheaper to buy the PS3 which Sony, like every other console manufacturer, sells below cost and make up the difference with game sales.
USAF buys literally tons of loss-leading PS3s but no games? I think you just hit on why Sony doesn't care about the problem the Air Force faces now.
Re:what about folding? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:not necessarily impossible (Score:1, Informative)
I believe six impossible things before breakfast!
Re:Obvious outcome (Score:3, Informative)
Using PS3s for anything, especially non-gaming research applications seemed like a really bad idea in the first place. A game console is nothing but an overpriced, crippled computer. Sure, the multi-core cell processor might be great for some things, but I doubt that they couldn't have found something better for the same price.
You need to follow Mr. Peabody into the way-back machine to understand why they used PS3s. At the time it offered dramatically more flops per dollar than anything else. Flops are what you really need for all serious simulation, and the more precision, the better. It's only recently that you could get halfway decent double-precision flop rates with GPGPU computing. And even today, you'll need at least a $100 video card to push any significant number of them, plus a PC with a PCIEx16 slot. There has probably never been a cheaper source of flops than a used PS3 until recently, where used PCs with high-end video cards capable of delivering them began to become available. And I suspect that if you run the numbers, a typically-priced (say, gamestop price?) used PS3 will provide more DP FLOPS than a typically-priced used PC. Again, this is in the process of changing; it might be here already. And in any case, Sony has just eliminated the value of the used PS3 for scientific computing. (Those who say it had none previously are ignoring the many benefits of clustering; if a node dies, who cares, aside from the financial impact of its replacement? You can buy used consoles in bulk.)
Re:Sony is a terrorist organization (Score:3, Informative)
That's one boss...
(puts on sunglasses)
...that won't fool us again.
YEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!
Re:Sony is a terrorist organization (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Sony is a terrorist organization (Score:2, Informative)
So,... you have no credit cards, don't own a house or a car either, as far as I can tell, because all these things have insanely complicated contracts that the banks can change willy-nilly if they please.
To be fair, not all credit card companies do that. The account agreement I got from my credit union with their credit card was a single page. It contained no arbitration clause and no provision for them to unilaterally change the contract. Go find yourself a local community bank or credit union. Odds are that they will treat you better than the big boys. Added bonus: Most of them didn't steal any of your tax dollars from you either.