A lot of people I know would only buy on Amazon b/c you don't have to pay tax or shipping. (well, you are supposed to pay use tax to your state, but people seem not to...). And in my town if you checked amazon, sonystyle, and bestbuy online, then went to Best Buy, Gamestop, Walmart and Target in town, chances are you would not find a PS3. And yes, many people will search that much, but some others will not. If it's not at BB when they stop by, they'll wait on it. And the people who are more price sensitive or want it as a blu-ray player now that it is cheaper are not always going to be so gung ho that they search all around diligently until they find it.
I don't know what this little mini debate is really about. There are shortages, period. They cause *some* degree of slower sales, though I don't care at all to debate or estimate how many.
