Whose Computer Is It?

Re:Whose Computer Is It? by numbsafari on Thursday October 22, 2020 @04:55PM (#24863196)

If it becomes true of Apple, it will necessarily become true in many other domains. Xbox, Switch, PS, etc. What about car computers? Not just the infotainment system, but the actual engine computer modules?

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Re:Whose Computer Is It? by weareallcowards on Thursday October 22, 2020 @05:11PM (#24863354)

For what it's worth, the US Air Force has been burned in the past by having game consoles locked down.

They bought a bunch of PS3s to make a cluster back when the machines could run Linux, but Sony removed the ability to run a custom OS when people started to actually use it.

I think the military got a special contract for continued support, but why shouldn't that be a feature that is expected of any complex computing device?

People do also modify their car and motorcycle ECUs, it's called "chipping". Again, this is expected of a product that you purchased and own, and it's still illegal to operate vehicles that don't pass local environmental and safety inspections.

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Re:Whose Computer Is It? by Jtsummers on Thursday October 22, 2020 @05:33PM (#24863540)

USAF wasn't the only one, universities also bought PS3s as that was the only feasible way to get a Cell processor cluster going.

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Re:Whose Computer Is It? by Shared404 on Friday October 23, 2020 @12:30AM (#24866050)

That would be absolutely amazing.

I would love to be able to use Switch hardware as a general purpose computer/emulation machine.

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