The Crux of Sony's Strategy Problem

[smallflyingtaco]

Sqrl said:
Actually I will take my conclusion a step further and say that the architecture is actually quite ideal for the sorts of scientific endeavors that we have heard about. For a research team the PS3 represents a powerful computer that facilitates the sort of workload breakups that are common in this sort of research. The result is that workloads can be prioritized and a workload designated to have a higher probability of interesting results can be processed more quickly.

As for price, looking at the normal cost to purchase time on a supercomputer, the PS3 is actually a cheaper alternative when you factor in the need to schedule time on a supercomputer and the need to pay a fee for every such use. Where the alternative is a one time purchase price and constant uninterrupted accessibility.

Just to avoid any backlash, I am not suggesting that the PS3 be relegated exclusively to such tasks, only that the price point and performance of the unit is more in line with this sort of work and that there is a disparity in its intended purpose and practical purpose.

 This is not true for all scientific applications.  There are problems that are more about memory than processing power or cases where breaking your problem down to fit within a PS3s memory constraints would increase your processing requirements beyond the advantage you get from your PS3.  Outside those constraints your right, the PS3 is a great deal but if Sony is lossing money on the hardware or making a subpar profit on them then they do not want to sell their ultracheap workstations to people who will never buy software for them because they are becoming part of clusters.