5 ms·

Agree. The fact the xBox gaming console has the power of a supercomputer, as evident from its fans and overheating problems, but doesn't even have a simple webb

by points 16y ago

Agree. The fact the xBox gaming console has the power of a supercomputer, as evident from its fans and overheating problems, but doesn't even have a simple webbrowser is all the evidence we need. MS has never understood or indeed wanted the www to happen. They were able to hold back www development for 5 years+ with their IE6 shenanigans, but the cats out of the bag now.

Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
Really? The XBox uses the web in the best way possible for a games console - on-line gaming. Maybe it's just me but I find a console a rubbish browsing platform - I've got browsers on my PS3, PSP and Wii and never use them. It is possible that Microsoft just don't have a browser in the 360 because it's not a great place to put a browser. Microsoft own Hotmail, they've ported Office on-line, XBox supports on-line gaming, they make what is still the most popular single browser (which is under very active development), they produce web servers and a massive range of developer tools for the web from Visual Studio to Silverlight, they're working their arse off to get back into the mobile web market. If they're not into the web they're doing their best to hide it with their actions and investments. They were, by their own admission, slow to get to it but I don't think that's a valid criticism now. Now they're just all over the place but that's different to being anti.
- Xuzz 16y ago
  The Internet is not the web. Native games with Internet multiplayer aren't the web, they are the Internet. I don't know a single person using the online Office versions, because, well, they don't compare to the desktop ones. Yesterday, I saw a graph showing Hotmail losing about 10% market share, mostly to Gmail. Their new Xbox website broke every existing link on the domain. Mocrosoft does not get the web, even if they might get the internet.
  - Timmy_C 16y ago
    The sites built for marketing Microsoft products are often outsourced. So the fact that the new Xbox website was broken in any regard is the fault of a poor marketing manager and not a poor Microsoft developer.
    - cryptoz 16y ago
      If a software company doesn't build its own software, then there are other, larger problems here. (Yes, websites are software).
      - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
        No, you outsource or buy where it's appropriate. They should no more build every Microsoft website than any other firm should write their own word processor.
- points 16y ago
  FWIW, I disagree. When MS announced support for facebook on the xBox, I thought "hmm why not just give users a browser". Then they announced twitter integration... "Umm how about just stuff a browser on there". It's farcical. But OTOH, it fits right with MS's plan - they detest the www. It's open. It's free. It's not a walled garden they can monetize. Last time I heard the web division at MS still makes a huge loss. Which leads me to believe they're not in it to make money. They're in it to mess it up, stifle progress, and keep people buying their installable software. They did an absolutely fantastic job of that for 5 years or so.
  - potatolicious 16y ago
    Have you used the PS3 browser? Or worse, the Wii browser? One has to navigating the web with a joystick (have you tried it? It's fifth circle of hell terrible), the other has you suffering from cramps in 10 minutes flat. If you've used the browsers, you know just astronomically bad those ideas are. A browser doesn't not belong on a joystick-driven device, it's slow to use and frustrating as hell. So why would MS put a browser on the Xbox? And how exactly would a browser on the Xbox decrease their lock-in?
    - points 16y ago
      USB keyboard. Many people use the wii to browse.
      - potatolicious 16y ago
        Even if you eliminate the typing difficulties (and they are quite severe) of the platform, you still haven't replaced the mouse. On the PS3 it's tedious maneuvering of a pointer with a joystick (second order control system == frustration), on the Wii it's an arm-killing posture that is also aggravatingly imprecise. But taking all of that out of the equation - assuming that magically the Wii and the PS3 are both capable of interacting with USB mice and keyboards... how many people do you know who have an (extension cord required) USB connection to a keyboard and mouse combo on their couch? I can count these people on one hand. In fact I can count them on 3 fingers, and all are pretty hardcore tech geeks to boot.
ZeroGravitas 16y ago
The bizarre lack of spell-check in IE has always been my personal indicator for when Microsoft stops holding onto the past and fighting the web.
face 16y ago
An Xbox 360 has a 3.2GHz Xenon (three cores) and 512Mbs of ram [1]. Saying that it has the power of a supercomputer is a bit of a stretch (by about three orders of magnitude, #500 on the top500 list has five thousand cores [2]). [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360 [2] http://www.top500.org http://www.top500.org * edit: formatting
- sanderjd 16y ago
  It certainly doesn't have the power of a modern supercomputer, but it surpasses everything on Wikipedia's supercomputer timeline until about halfway down (using the admittedly poor comparison of GHz - GFLOPS). From that point of view, I think "power of a supercomputer" is fairly reasonable.
- points 16y ago
  You don't find it absolutely bizarre that it doesn't even have a web browser? Even when a tiny DSi has a very capable browser, smart phones have browsers. And a big gaming console from a supposed software company doesn't even have a web browser?
  - gboyer 16y ago
    I guess it's a little strange that they haven't tried to put IE on the Xbox--but I'm glad they haven't. The whole reason I have a game console is to have an appliance that is dedicated to video games. I have plenty of other devices that provide a superior browsing experience.
    - points 16y ago
      I agree with you - I wouldn't use a webbrowser on a games console. But the population disagrees - they do :/
      - jerhinesmith 16y ago
        I'm sorry, but source? Stats? Anything other than anecdote to back that up? I tried to find some information, but the best I could do was from an article written in 2009 (http://www.next-gen.biz/news/ps3%E2%80%99s-web-browser-usage-ahead-wii http://www.next-gen.biz/news/ps3%E2%80%99s-web-browser-usage...): "The PS3's browser has a 0.04 share of the 'internet market', a miniscule proportion when compared to, say, the PC's 88.7 percent majority, yet it's a figure which sits comfortably ahead of the Wii's 0.01 percent." Granted, those numbers are horribly out of date, but it would seem to indicate that the population (at large) does agree.

by points 16y ago

Tyrannosaurs 16y ago

Really? The XBox uses the web in the best way possible for a games console - on-line gaming. Maybe it's just me but I find a console a rubbish browsing platform - I've got browsers on my PS3, PSP and Wii and never use them. It is possible that Microsoft just don't have a browser in the 360 because it's not a great place to put a browser. Microsoft own Hotmail, they've ported Office on-line, XBox supports on-line gaming, they make what is still the most popular single browser (which is under very active development), they produce web servers and a massive range of developer tools for the web from Visual Studio to Silverlight, they're working their arse off to get back into the mobile web market. If they're not into the web they're doing their best to hide it with their actions and investments. They were, by their own admission, slow to get to it but I don't think that's a valid criticism now. Now they're just all over the place but that's different to being anti.

Xuzz 16y ago
The Internet is not the web. Native games with Internet multiplayer aren't the web, they are the Internet. I don't know a single person using the online Office versions, because, well, they don't compare to the desktop ones. Yesterday, I saw a graph showing Hotmail losing about 10% market share, mostly to Gmail. Their new Xbox website broke every existing link on the domain. Mocrosoft does not get the web, even if they might get the internet.
- Timmy_C 16y ago
  The sites built for marketing Microsoft products are often outsourced. So the fact that the new Xbox website was broken in any regard is the fault of a poor marketing manager and not a poor Microsoft developer.
  - cryptoz 16y ago
    If a software company doesn't build its own software, then there are other, larger problems here. (Yes, websites are software).
    - Tyrannosaurs 16y ago
      No, you outsource or buy where it's appropriate. They should no more build every Microsoft website than any other firm should write their own word processor.
points 16y ago
FWIW, I disagree. When MS announced support for facebook on the xBox, I thought "hmm why not just give users a browser". Then they announced twitter integration... "Umm how about just stuff a browser on there". It's farcical. But OTOH, it fits right with MS's plan - they detest the www. It's open. It's free. It's not a walled garden they can monetize. Last time I heard the web division at MS still makes a huge loss. Which leads me to believe they're not in it to make money. They're in it to mess it up, stifle progress, and keep people buying their installable software. They did an absolutely fantastic job of that for 5 years or so.
- potatolicious 16y ago
  Have you used the PS3 browser? Or worse, the Wii browser? One has to navigating the web with a joystick (have you tried it? It's fifth circle of hell terrible), the other has you suffering from cramps in 10 minutes flat. If you've used the browsers, you know just astronomically bad those ideas are. A browser doesn't not belong on a joystick-driven device, it's slow to use and frustrating as hell. So why would MS put a browser on the Xbox? And how exactly would a browser on the Xbox decrease their lock-in?
  - points 16y ago
    USB keyboard. Many people use the wii to browse.
    - potatolicious 16y ago
      Even if you eliminate the typing difficulties (and they are quite severe) of the platform, you still haven't replaced the mouse. On the PS3 it's tedious maneuvering of a pointer with a joystick (second order control system == frustration), on the Wii it's an arm-killing posture that is also aggravatingly imprecise. But taking all of that out of the equation - assuming that magically the Wii and the PS3 are both capable of interacting with USB mice and keyboards... how many people do you know who have an (extension cord required) USB connection to a keyboard and mouse combo on their couch? I can count these people on one hand. In fact I can count them on 3 fingers, and all are pretty hardcore tech geeks to boot.

ZeroGravitas 16y ago

The bizarre lack of spell-check in IE has always been my personal indicator for when Microsoft stops holding onto the past and fighting the web.

face 16y ago

An Xbox 360 has a 3.2GHz Xenon (three cores) and 512Mbs of ram [1]. Saying that it has the power of a supercomputer is a bit of a stretch (by about three orders of magnitude, #500 on the top500 list has five thousand cores [2]). [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360 [2] http://www.top500.org http://www.top500.org * edit: formatting

sanderjd 16y ago
It certainly doesn't have the power of a modern supercomputer, but it surpasses everything on Wikipedia's supercomputer timeline until about halfway down (using the admittedly poor comparison of GHz - GFLOPS). From that point of view, I think "power of a supercomputer" is fairly reasonable.
points 16y ago
You don't find it absolutely bizarre that it doesn't even have a web browser? Even when a tiny DSi has a very capable browser, smart phones have browsers. And a big gaming console from a supposed software company doesn't even have a web browser?
- gboyer 16y ago
  I guess it's a little strange that they haven't tried to put IE on the Xbox--but I'm glad they haven't. The whole reason I have a game console is to have an appliance that is dedicated to video games. I have plenty of other devices that provide a superior browsing experience.
  - points 16y ago
    I agree with you - I wouldn't use a webbrowser on a games console. But the population disagrees - they do :/
    - jerhinesmith 16y ago
      I'm sorry, but source? Stats? Anything other than anecdote to back that up? I tried to find some information, but the best I could do was from an article written in 2009 (http://www.next-gen.biz/news/ps3%E2%80%99s-web-browser-usage-ahead-wii http://www.next-gen.biz/news/ps3%E2%80%99s-web-browser-usage...): "The PS3's browser has a 0.04 share of the 'internet market', a miniscule proportion when compared to, say, the PC's 88.7 percent majority, yet it's a figure which sits comfortably ahead of the Wii's 0.01 percent." Granted, those numbers are horribly out of date, but it would seem to indicate that the population (at large) does agree.