Bods we're arguing from the perspective of consumer reality, you're arguing from the perspective of what can literally be done with a soldering iron and proper know how inspite of how the product was intended to be used. Of course there is going to be a gap, but to be honest, your argument is just getting silly and I don't think anyone even knows what your point is anymore. It just seems like you're on a mission to dissagree with anyone who suggests there is any variance, no matter how subtle, between PCs and Video Game Consoles.

 I honestly don't understand how firmware updates + multiple SKUs can make anyone think that consoles are close to PCs for gaming... Paraphrasing Charles Babbage:

I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such an assertion.

I do.

1. People said console upgradeability + multiple SKUs make Video Game Consoles identicle to PCs.

2. I said no and suggested they were different for a variety of reason.

3. Debate ensues.

4. I see Bods issue is in the language of the argument not so much the argument itself so i tried changing the language, thus you get my response which you quoted.

Factory robots aren't infinitely customizable. They are more customizable than most consoles, but that doesn't make them fundamentally different.

lol I read the thread and understood what you said there, don't worry, j/k there :P

Oh god you don't know how happy it makes me to hear you say that. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Then you don't understand my point.

I absolutely agree there are differences between a standard PC and, say, a PS3.

But there are also differences between the PS3 and 360, and more emphatically, between the Wii and PS3.

Here's a good example: the Wii is profoundly less technologically capable in many regards. It's GPU and CPU are well below what the PS3 and 360 have. Moreover, it's "customizability," as has been put, is well below. You can't add a hard drive. You can't replace the hard drive. There are no additional SKUs with different specs and builds. You can't download music or movies on to your Wii.

Those are some big differences! Does that make the Wii not a console? Obviously not. It's a console, despite the fact that it has some pretty big differences from the 360 and PS3.

So here are the similarities between the 360/PS3 and PC:

1) You can easily customize the hardware by changing/replacing some hardware. I'm not talking soldering here. They sell Xbox360 upgraded HDDs at most electronic chains, and any PS3 can have an external hard drive attached.

2) You can update the OS or, in the case of the PS3, replace the OS with linux

3) You can surf the internet

4) You can watch movies

5) You can download movies

6) You can play music

7) You can download music

8) On the PS3, you can use a mouse and keyboard

9) You can keep digital photos

10) You can play games.

Edit -- also important: ten years ago in the PS1/N64 era, the only one of these things that was true was 10. You couldn't watch movies, download anything, surf the web, play music or photos or anything. None of that was true of consoles. All they did was play games. The list of salient features that a "PC" can perform that a "Gaming console" cannot has shrunk to almost nil.

I absolutely agree. Which is why I'd never use "customization" as a distinguishing feature between the two.

You know what are distinguishing features?

The ability to play music, games, show photographs, watch videos, download videos, surf the internet, and download OS updates. Those are all important differences that should be noted between a factory robot and a PC, and make the two entities importantly distinct.

Similarly, you shouldn't use "customization" as a distinguishing feature between PCs and the 360/PS3. It certainly is different by degree, but not by kind. Ten years ago, you could have used almost all of the distinguishing features I lised above to show why a PC is different than a console. Now, all of the above are true for both PCs and consoles.