What do you mean by lose another feature?
Some people compare this to the loss of PS2 backward compatibility. But it is only comparable to that in the Slim models, as the Slim models do not have Other OS or PS2 backward compatibility out of the box. No one with a PS2 compatible PS3 has had that compatibility taken away. It isn't the best comparison due to the circumstances in this case. But it is a way of pointing out that the "It Only Does Everything" machine does two less things if bought now than it did when it launched.
Dave_sz and I rarely agree on things, but we are in some agreement on the poor form by Sony by doing this. Now, I am not refusing to update my system because I didn't use Other OS. That doesn't change the fact that when I purchased the system it was a feature of the product.
My primary issue here is less with Sony and more with the industry as a whole. They have gotten so paranoid about piracy that they do not look at how many honest customers will be affected in their attempts to stop it.
And I am not talking about intrusive DRM that requires you to be online, or prevents you from installing it on to a new computer even. Yes, those suck too, but when this situation has led to having Homeland Security Border Patrol agents raiding homes (how's the border guys?), Microsoft deactivating third-party memory units, Sony removing features, or any of them constantly doing firmware and/or OS updates it begins to get intrusive, ethically questionable, and annoying. Mod chips can be used just to allow imported games to work on a system, third-party memory units are just cheaper than proprietary ones, custom firmware opens up non-official application uses, and Other OS hadn't been a piracy tool for over two years. These are actions that attack loyal customers trying to get the most out of their hardware equally with pirates.
And in light of
a recent Government Accountability Office report that says that current reports of piracy cost estimates "cannot be substantiated or traced back to an underlying data source or methodology" it makes one wonder how much money these companies and our governments are spending on this issue, attacking loyal and honest customers too, in comparison to what is actually being lost.
In this current case, one man found a way through Other OS that would possibly allow piracy, and Sony has punished everyone that legitimately installed Linux.
