Energy wrote:
That way we could have homebrew software, sony would have extra clean software that would cause more interest in the system. they'd make money on people paying $20 or whatever to be able to develop. It'd be win win.
But yeah like that's going to happen.
I hate how homebrew coders get classed as pirates. We just like to be able to do our own thing.
Danger, Inc., the people behind the Sidekick, do this - and quite successfully, I might add.
The SK is basically a Java-based proprietary machine. Legitimate developers can ask Danger for a so called developer's key which is nothing more than a hash. The requirements are clearly outlined - you must demonstrate programming ability and you must submit code that implements a new concept (that way, simply throwing together some 'hello world' code won't work).
The problem is that your code only runs on other developer machines (ie. it's restricted to Sidekicks that are in dev-mode). But considering that the Sidekick is basically a glorified cell phone with data services (ie. a lifestyle device, and not a console), I have to admit that there's an impressively active SK development community out there.
With regard to Sony and the PSP, I believe that image control will always win out over homebrew developer's needs. Even if Sony managed to implement a working and effective PKI system (which is basically what you're proposing and is, quite unfortunately, a lot harder to accomplish in reality than it looks on paper), there would still be the negative PR if just one thing goes wrong.
Sure, Sony could disable the offending key but that's merely damage control. They can't go back and retroactively undo the damage. And image is a very important part of everything Sony is doing (just look how image and public perception work for Apple, a company that by most analysts' predictions should have gone belly up years, if not decades, ago).
It's a nice dream but, as you say, it just ain't gonna happen.
