@Kyros: I'll start with "fitting PS2 into the pocket" (or to be more specific, a home console into the pocket), which i definately agree. That's the biggest mistake Sony did with PSP. It gives you very little reasons to buy a PSP in the first place.
Not having a video playback wouldn't have required an optical drive in it. Playback from memory stick would have been similar thing to the addition of playback to DS. Addition of Skype, then again, is the kind of example i'm talking about.
The difference here is, that when PSP was released, it already had its multimedia functions, while when DS was released, it could only be used to play DS and GBA games. Now, four years and 90 million sold units later, the third DS model gets its first added built-in function.
Yes, DSL has a camera, plays music and has internet browser, but they all are available by buying a peripheral. If you want a new function, you pay more money for it, and the function you don't need, you don't have to pay for it.
For the functions, even if they can be added through internet, may have costs associated, especially if you use licensed technology. The plug-ins etc. aren't usually free. Wii would have a DVD playback, if Nintendo hadn't had to pay royalties for each unit with playback. Or maybe Nintendo is saving the function for a later date if sales start to decline and they want to get additional sales.
When we talk about multifunctional devices, it's about overshooting the customer. Basically every device has its core function and the device is primarily sold to its core audience, ie. the people who use it for its core function. When you add a new function, you expand your potential audience to people who might want the device for its extra function, but at the same time the function adds to the cost of the product, when you have two options; either to sell it with less profit (or even at a loss) or sell it for more bigger price, when you lose some of the potential sales. Keep adding the functionalities, you keep adding the size of the potential audience, but you also either keep lessening your profits or the people who actually want to pay the price you want them to pay for it. PS3 is the best example i can think of, it's sold at a loss, for more than people wants to pay for it. Multifunctional devices usually face problems with single function devices, since the latter are often sold for cheaper with better profit margins.
Ei Kiinasti.
Eikä Japanisti.
Vaan pannaan jalalla koreasti.
Nintendo games sell only on Nintendo system.
