Educational buget is generaly very limited or directed at other things. Computers tend to be the last thing on the list. They generaly look towards donations and other sources generaly for their labs. Anything over 500 is extremly expencive unless its for specialized equipemtn like media or CS labs. (and those are rarely mac based)

Sony actually did something right...
The price point of 100$ and lack of hdmi is just for your averege gamer.(they wont care for the BlueRay or drm implecations)
From the developer perspective they included the minimum of everything they need for the system at both the low and the high end. The developer wont have to worry about a segmented market with or without a HD they also wont need to worry about what format to release the game in DVD or BD since the low and the high end has it. Long tearm thats all that really matters.

Where the 360 may come down to the point where the developer is torn between leaving out a % of the audience or downgrading the quality of their vision...

#2
Quite the opposite. It seems Sony is just targeting the higher end consumer. BD adds easily 5 to 1 over HD adds in in various magazines as well as advertisements as well as various review sites banners. Sony knows they don�t need to target Joe consumer with 1000$ products when the ps3 will take care of that.

You would be surprised how many people bought the ps2 just because of the dvd capability (as crappy a player as it is).
Where as the HD is an optional attachment to a different entity (great for those who have one). But don�t bank on people buying an xbox + attachment separately to get a player for 500$ when they can buy one flat out.

And my personal opinion is that HD screwed itself by releasing a crippled version at product launch.
BD seems to have the right audience targeted and a price tag to match. HD is going for the typical consumer at launch. (foolish with a first gen 500$ price tag especially as most average consumers don�t even have the underlying base to take advantage of the new format)

True winner wont be known for some time.

I could care less about vista.
What about DirectX?
hopefully that still makes it out before 2007

It was an apology more than an announcement.
As long as it makes it for the holiday release time is not a problem. 1up stated has their article updated saying its set for ~10th nov. This gives some time for Sony to get the hdmi connections worked out.
They did not give any specs or even hints to the price. With good reason there are few events coming up they need to save something to throw out there.

First gen ps3 should not expect stunning visuals since developers don�t have time to develop for the new architecture. Similar in the sense of the Xbox it seems more a .5 console until developers start utilizing console to potentials. Something Nintendo doesn�t need to worry about.

Nothing bad can come from options to the consumer. If MS wasn�t competing against Sony's giant they wouldn�t take a hit on their console and jack up the price another 100-150$.

It should be in the 400-500 range. That�s about same as a future proofed xbox.(which, in my opinion is a hit to Microsoft when a year or 2 down the line 1/2 of your games cant be played or ports cant be made to available to 1/2 the audience) Xbox +hd +wireless controller +next gen optics = ~450. Nintendo has a has always been a peripheral wh*re. Don�t expect your console to be able to play everything you want without some miscellaneous cables, adapters, controller add-ons, potentially even the DS.

If the price is right this is the perfect device to bridge everything i would like portable. Mobile phone doesn�t have the functionality I would like especially when it comes to meetings and notes in class.
I still see a major flaw in most PMPs being rather large and low rez. (i really don�t feel like recompressing what i record for ~Qvga) Large storage full OS makes it easy to play any format.
GPS add-on for my PDA works pretty well but that makes it attached to the car. having it built in works well.
And if this can get wireless web. (not just hot spots) It would replace my phone as well.
Gaming should be easy don�t need much extra development just lean in more towards emulation that already exists.
Price shouldn�t be a problem much if you�re looking at portability vs. functionality.
pmp ~300
PDA/gps ~350
Gaming 150^

I can only see 2 down sides.
2-3 hr battery life & price if its over $700.
both due to improve with a gen or two

I would think that its primarily aimed at business and corporate use. Hard to see a market outside a few people looking to consolidate devices.

Anyone know anything about boot times on those?
I should hope it is faster than laptops.