Master Malstrom,
I just wanted to give a quick response to the statement made in the e-mail post about costs will not go down due to the inability to continue with Moore’s law (the doubling of processing power every two years).
The fact is, chip manufacturers have been having a hard time keeping up with Moore’s law since 2005. At that time they realized they could no longer double speed through die shrinks and transistor speed. So, they started cheating and just added more cores and called it a day. This effectively doubled processing power, but Moore’s law was originally viewed as per processing element.
The point of all this is that, just as computing speed is not solely dependent on cramming more transistors onto a die, neither is manufacturing costs. In fact, manufacturing costs have very little to do with die shrinks and everything to do with how traditional products reduce their manufacturing costs (more automation, reduced R&D costs over time, cheaper materials, etc…).
So, I fully expect to see the price cuts we have become accustomed to. The real question is will these consoles be around long enough to get that price cut. I agree that the hardcore will buy anything put in front of them, but will that be enough to keep them viable?
Sincerely,
A Reader
Surely, reader, the elimination of used games and borrowing and renting will make the hardware so much cheaper.
Right?
Right?