Well stated, and hints at what I think a lot of folks are surmising: the platform has become more important than the box.
For generation after generation, console manufacturers basically asked us to give up the old box -- and our entire library with it -- and move onto the next one. Developers have to be retrained, consumers have to be resold, and all at a higher price point.
This was all well and good until things like XBox Live started becoming integral to XBox 360, and all the services attached to the online experience became central components of the total experience of ownership.
This is, indeed, the Apple iOS model. The devices might get incremental upgrades every so often -- and it's not inconceivable that we might start seeing incremental yearly refreshes on XBox and PS systems someday, the same way we do with iPhones and iPads. But the core OSes and platforms will remain fairly stable.
For generation after generation, console manufacturers basically asked us to give up the old box -- and our entire library with it -- and move onto the next one. Developers have to be retrained, consumers have to be resold, and all at a higher price point.
This was all well and good until things like XBox Live started becoming integral to XBox 360, and all the services attached to the online experience became central components of the total experience of ownership.
This is, indeed, the Apple iOS model. The devices might get incremental upgrades every so often -- and it's not inconceivable that we might start seeing incremental yearly refreshes on XBox and PS systems someday, the same way we do with iPhones and iPads. But the core OSes and platforms will remain fairly stable.