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Howard Stringer and the new motto for Sony - Image courtesy Richter Scale
Sony's Sir Howard Stringer talks about digital music five years before iPod, its Mercedes-of-consoles and Blu-ray Disc

When it comes to Sony’s PlayStation 3, we rarely hear from parent company head Sir Howard Stringer. The Sony Corp. boss is one of the interviewees in an upcoming CEO Exchange TV program, and he speaks on his climb to his current position, giving tidbits on various Sony products, according to a Smarthouse report.

Although Apple is credited with bringing digital music to the masses with its iPod, Sony planned a similar product far earlier, but was unable to execute. Sony eventually released a digital music system, but it was admittedly inferior and less user friendly than competitive offerings.

“In 1997 we were working with IBM on electronic music distribution and could have put this out five years earlier [than iPod],” explained Stringer. “But we couldn't get our people to understand software. And we are a music company. They saw digital media, panicked and didn't like it."

Sony’s far reach in consumer electronics, in theory, should allow the company to produce devices that excel in convergence. For example, Sony Ericsson mobile phones are now melded with the Walkman and Cyber Shot brands to help reflect various strengths of its handsets.

“The good news is that Steve Jobs spotted a trend that we've seen. The phone is a convergence device, between music and a phone. We are all building variations on the same theme. We have sold plenty of Walkman phones [from Sony Ericsson], especially in Europe,” Stringer said, adding that Jobs and his iPhone are still not ever to be underestimated. “I would never sit up here and say I'm not worried about Steve Jobs. I wouldn't bet against Steve.”

Sony is also championing the rising Blu-ray Disc format, and Stringer does not hesitate to express his confidence in the format, saying, “We are selling 3-to-1 vs. them. We have exclusives with Disney, Fox, Sony [and Lion's Gate] and they have the top 15 of 20 movies at the moment. At some point Blu-ray will take over based on ... this support.”

On the topic of one of the world’s most popular Blu-ray Disc players—the PlayStation 3—Stringer was quite frank on his views on the Wii, and even offers a possible reason why the new console could fail.

“Wii is a wonderful device, but has a different target audience. If we fail, it is because we positioned PS3 as the Mercedes of the video game field. PS3 is after a different audience and it can be whatever it wants — a home server, game device, even a computer.”

Stringer recently went on record to speak on the spiraling reputation of Sony following the Great Laptop Battery Fiasco of 2006 and the tumultuous launch of the PlayStation 3.  The Sony Corp. CEO revealed that a lot of the negativity surrounding both recent challenges for the company is the result of internal strife in the company and a cultural disconnect between Sony CEO Howard Stringer and his Japanese executive team.

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Positioned like a Mercedes?
By therealnickdanger on 3/20/2007 10:20:34 AM , Rating: 5
More like a Volkswagen that is "priced like a Mercedes". PS3 has decent hardware, but it's not this technical wonder the Sony PR machine insists it is. They'll say anything to justify the price tag of their leading Blu-Ray player.




RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By javiergf on 3/20/2007 10:50:25 AM , Rating: 5
The PS3 is not technically superior to the Xbox360, in fact in graphics card, memory distribution, programming tools and games the Xbox360 is the "Mercedes".
The only superior thing is the blue ray player that they are forcing into the market and its superior price tag...


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 3/20/2007 11:04:49 AM , Rating: 4
Depends. I will list them out since I don't own any (Will eventually own a Wii if i can ever find one FFS)

X360
-Superior Graphics Hardware
-Superior Memory Size
-Superior Developer Tools/Kits

PS3
-Superior Disk Drive (Blu-Ray, newer and larger capacity)
-Larger Hard Disk
-HDMI

-Neutral
The CPU's in each system are roughly the same. The X360 uses 3 Standard CPU cores that incorporate Hyper-Threading to execute 6 Threads in order. (Not a big issue on a console like it would be for a PC)
CELL uses 1 standard CPU core with 7 specialized cores that seem to do specifically Floating Point calculations only.

CPU's come out even, with the CELL having more theoretical crunching power, but the X360 easier to program for to get the most out of the processors. So it washes out.

------------------------------------------------- -----------
The Blu-Ray is a questionable addition. Yes it allows larger capacity disks to be used than on a DVD-9 Player, however it is unknown if this a a necesity as it does add significant cost to the system.

The lack of HDMI on the X360 can be seen as a negative, however the Component cables seem to do a good job on their own with quality as good as the HDMI from the PS3.

Otherwise Wii FTW?


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By therealnickdanger on 3/20/2007 11:49:37 AM , Rating: 2
Not to be a little snot, but too often the PS3 and 360 CPUs are made out to be these similar technologies, when they are truly different. The PS3 "CPU" is made up of one PPE core and the seven SPEs for FP and vector calcs, not cores, it's an important distinction. In addition, the OS reserves use of one of the useable seven, making the total count six available for any game or extra processing. The 360's CPU is comprised of three PPEs (not really standard) with multi-threading (not technically Hyper-Threading) and FP and vector accelerators built in to each core.

Also, if rumors are correct, the 360 will soon be repackaged with HDMI and a larger hard drive (and die-shrink). It would still be wise, however, for Microsoft to follow suit with Sony in allowing users to add their own HDD. 12GB just doesn't cut it...


By doctor sam adams on 3/21/2007 1:10:19 PM , Rating: 2
That's a pretty good analysis, I think. From one perspective the Cell is like a single core dual-threaded CPU with a lot of additional FP power behind it. The dual-threading can also hide the latencies of the in-order design, so programming two threads for a single in-order CPU complex might be easier than programming one or two each for the equivalent cores of the 360 CPU. The fact that they have their own memory spaces makes them a little more useful, but that seems to be in order to make them super fast rather than more independent. It is probably better to use SPEs locked together than send them off in their own individual directions to potentially lose synchronization with each other.


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By DingieM on 3/20/07, Rating: 0
RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By Chadder007 on 3/20/2007 12:33:51 PM , Rating: 3
I think its interesting that almost ALL of the analysts last year only spoke of the PS3 and 360, excluding the Wii. The Wii was never a factor in the console wars when it came to news reports last year and now its the one selling the most.


By Scrogneugneu on 3/20/2007 7:37:23 PM , Rating: 2
Were you really believing that analysts could be right about something?


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By Plasmoid on 3/20/2007 11:01:18 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah and they were all taking about the playstation 2 and xbox and gamecube while the playstation 1 was the best selling...

I could finish off with a nice dig about how last gen consoles always sell well... but im not that cruel.

Playstation 2 outsold Wii for quite a while...


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By regnez on 3/20/2007 12:12:17 PM , Rating: 5
Scratch large hdd and HDMI off the PS3 list.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/game-mag-says-black-x...


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By FITCamaro on 3/20/2007 12:48:18 PM , Rating: 2
The 360 and the PS3 have identical amounts of memory. Its just different in the distribution. Xbox360 has 512MB GDDR3 with the processor and the GPU having full, direct access to it.

The PS3 has 256MB of XDR memory and 256MB of GDDR3. The PS3's GPU has full access to the all of it if needed. The PPE core only has access to the 256MB of XDR. The SPEs don't have direct access to any of the RAM.

So yes the 360's memory configuration is better but neither has an advantage in amount. XDRs speed advantage is also debatable (much like the Rambus vs. DDR argument of old) and only serves to drive the costs of the PS3 up even further.


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By caqde on 3/20/2007 5:56:06 PM , Rating: 2
Actually the Xbox and PS3 memory configurations can both cause problems. With the Xbox the problem there is similar to owning a computer with an integrated graphics chip because the Videocard and the processor want access to the memory ALL THE TIME there is a huge fight over resources which causes a problem with memory bandwidth theoretically the bandwidth for each would be about half of the memories current bandwidth but with this I would say somewhere less than half for each given latency issues.

Now with the PS3 the only real issue deals with the problem of one part not having as much memory as you would wish to have since the Xbox could theoretically limit memory to the videocard to give more memory to the processors is the videocard doesn't need it but then again that depends on the development tools used. But then again it is proven in the PC world that having seperate memory for the Videocard and CPU is faster than shared memory, but given this the PS3 configuration is the superior one of the two in this area.

When it comes to the memory share in the cores with the PS3 it was meant to be that way as the other processors don't need memory access as they can't think much anyways all the memory operations are being left to the main core although multiple unspecialized cores might seem better the FP specialized cores might help alot more than one might think depending on how they are used and how good the FP units are compared the the unspecialized core anyways. In this area you can't really compare the two accurately but I would say that the PS3 is better at heavy FP operations and that would help in making 3Dgames with good AI and physics if used correctly. The Xbox is probably better at common tasks that a PC would be good at....... 2D will games love this.


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By therealnickdanger on 3/21/2007 10:26:54 AM , Rating: 2
You comment regarding a "huge fight over resources" is incorrect. While the setup might be analogous to a "turbocache" system in that both CPU and GPU share memory, there is no "fight" or "bandwidth problem" because the Xbox360 is not a traditional computer.

Unlike PC applications which are designed for a target system and then vary in performance across million of configurations of computers, 360 applications are programmed according to the strict hardware guidelines of the 360. All games are programmed to operate WITHOUT causing bandwidth problems, so this doesn't really happen. The same is true for the PS3.

This doesn't mean that the system can't be pushed beyond its limits on occasion. If I stack up 30 cars in Crackdown and blow them up - which is a ridiculously arduous task it, clearly beyond what can be considered "normal gameplay" - it will slow the system down momentarily to about 10fps. However, the game should never shut down or error out because of a lack of bandwidth.

The 360's triple-core PPE (Xenon) is capable of some of the same FP and vector calculations that the Cell is, since it has FP and vector units built in to each core. Where the Cell outpaces the Xenon, this is easily made up for by the 360's GPU (Xenos) versus the PS3's GPU (RSX) The raw crunching power of the Xenos combined with its extremely high bandwidth with the eDRAM put the crippled G71 to shame.

This is why Bathesda said that the PS3 version of Oblivion won't be able to offer armor for its horses. Where's the magic of the Cell now? Over-rated, over-hyped. Over.


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By caqde on 3/21/2007 5:43:04 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
"turbocache" system in that both CPU and GPU share memory, there is no "fight" or "bandwidth problem" because the Xbox360 is not a traditional computer.


I won't fight over the issue of the RSX being slower than the Xenon, but the issue of Xbox360 not being a traditional computer does not keep it from having the same limitations of a computer. No matter how someone programs a game they are still going to run into the issue of bandwidth and the CPU and GPU will be fighting over resources even if this fight is monitored and controlled by a logic chip. No matter how this system was developed it is still a computer.

quote:
However, the game should never shut down or error out because of a lack of bandwidth.


Since when did lack of bandwidth cause errors??? Do you know how a computer works? That problem with having 10fps is the issue at hand no amount of bandwidth problems will ever cause errors or crashes. If what you said was true then the internet would crash all the time, but it doesn't. Having a bandwidth problem creates slowdowns not crashes. Crashes are logic errors created mainly by overheating and overclocking a computer, bad programming, and faulty hardware.

Now a wonder about that 30 car stack was that being played on an HDTV or a standard everyday TV? According to the specs of the Xbox360 if you did that and caused a slowdown on a standard TV then turned around and repeated that on a High Definition TV the Frame rate would crawl even further.

quote:
Xenos combined with its extremely high bandwidth with the eDRAM


You do realize that the eDRAM's 256GB/s bandwidth is internal right? the bandwidth between the Xenos and the eDRAM is only 32GB/s. And this memory is only used as a framebuffer it is not used for texturing. Which means that the Unified Memory is still going to get constant battering by the Xenos chip despite having the 10megabytes of eDRAM.

The problem I was talking about deals with the Unified Memory that has a bandwidth of 22.4GB/s. This memory is going to be used by the CPU and the GPU and they will both need to use the memory constantly while a game is running. This splits the bandwidth two ways which is what I meant by fight over bandwidth.

quote:
The 360's triple-core PPE (Xenon) is capable of some of the same FP and vector calculations that the Cell is, since it has FP and vector units built in to each core.


Well true but will those FP and vector calculations be used for the same reasons? This highly depends on the development kit of the 360. Will the Xenon be used primarily as a graphics chip or will it also be used in AI and Physics calculations? That is the reason behind the cores of the Cell processor and hopefully that will be the way those cores are used. I know ATI's desktop cards have the capability to perform these actions but I do not know if the Xbox chip is capable of being used this way or if this capability can be used at the same time as that of it's graphics capabilities.


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By encryptkeeper on 3/20/2007 12:50:42 PM , Rating: 2
PS3 is after a different audience and it can be whatever it wants — a home server, game device, even a computer.

I swear, there really needs to be a business model for situations like this one. Products like the PS3 and Zune were heavily advertised, expensively developed, and for the effort these companies have put into them, they aren't seeing the return they should. Why? Because they are making these products too similar to what's already out there and in customer's homes. Did Microsoft really think they could piss around and make a music player with only one advantage over an IPod, wireless music sharing (and they didn't even do that right). These companies have to list all benefits of using another product when they create their own, and best whatever percentage their competition already holds in the marketplace. For instance, all the features of the Zune needed to be about 80% better than an Ipod to really have a chance to beat Apple for that market share. Same with the PS3. You can't say its a home server. Who doesn't already have a computer that can do all of the "server" aspects of a PS3, that is actually going to get or has a PS3? NO ONE! Truly, the BluRay player is the biggest mistake of the PS3. Bottom line. No more kidding around, no more flaming, it's all Blu Ray's fault. If they jumped on the HD DVD bandwagon, they would be rolling right now, and they'd be supporting a format they KNOW would be the new standard. People would be less afraid to buy the hardware because they knew they'd have a standardized format (therefore increasing sales). And then the only thing they'd have to do is make great games and people would PAY the 600 bucks for the system.


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By ddawg on 3/21/2007 12:48:37 AM , Rating: 1
Sony's anti-consumer attitude is the resulting in it's draconian implementation of DRM\AACS in Blue Ray; coupled with the fact that Sony evidently believes games trump movies\shows is what's killing both Blue Ray and the PS3.

Sony is definitely not a consumer friendly company! And the consumer are pocket books are speaking... I hope Sony's able to comprehend the message!


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?
By bldckstark on 3/20/2007 4:25:48 PM , Rating: 2
I have a Wii to sell. My wife bought one at the same time I did, and now we have one too many.


RE: Positioned like a Mercedes?