Software updates are done in one of 3 ways. This is the case for both the PS3 and the 360.
- Sign into Xbox Live (or PSN), the system see's you aren't running the latest firmware and forces you to upgrade. In the 360's case if you refuse it logs you out of live.
- Put a newer game disc that has the new firmware in the system.
- Download the update from MS or Sony and burn it to a disc. This method is the most involving one, dunno how many people actually do this.
All feature-matrixes aside...
The above description makes it appear as if IP were an afterthought to product development for the 360. Yes, I know it has IP, uses IP and a lot of gameplay/movies revolve around internet access on it... but let me explain...
In the late 1990's, several organizations including Mitsubishi, Thomson (RCA) and Hitachi got together and formed HAVi, a forum standard that was to be built around IEEE-1394 Firewire (which Apple introduced) and allow networking of audio/video components in an integrated system. That project seems to have completely died.
Then HDMI came about, but HDMI is not an Internet Protocol capable transport. The majority of the industry backed this instead of HAVi.
I've been scratching my head on this one, except to say that anything "IP" scares the crap out of RIAA and MPAA. They recoil in horror at the thought of it being hacked. So they went with HDMI that incorporated HDCP which originated with the advent of DAT.
The problem with this approach is that it's not really a great solution for the consumer in the 21st century who wants easy interoperability between not only home theater components, but integration of all aspects of their digital lifestyle... The most logical solution being to employ the LAN as the backbone to connect it all. That's the holy grail, and AppleTV is the only device that really truly takes IP seriously.
The reason I say XBOX treats IP as an after thought is this... IP is there simply to enable multiplayer games and XBOX Live access... but then you've got goony ergonomics like this update process. Unless you have an XBOX Live subscription, the process to update would be to buy a game and update. This is fine but it certainly indicates that IP was an afterthought rather than the central guiding scope and purpose of the device.
That really means that XBOX is a gaming and movie machine that happens to also have an ethernet port. It is not a convergence device in the true sense of the word. Nothing wrong with that. But that's not the most competitive space to be in... It was, but it will not remain that way for long.
True convergence devices have IP at their heart. They are communications devices first and foremost... conduits for access to content. What content? Well, frankly any content that software can be devised for. So that got me thinking...
Why HDMI? Why don't AV components ALL speak IP? Tech convergence will not happen, truly, until AV components speak the same language as the rest of your digital devices... and the most common language is IP. Hundreds of millions of devices worldwide speak it. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to use iPhone's interface as a "remote control" to tell my DVD player what to do, or to browse a graphical coverflow list of albums on my NAS and dictate which system in the house I want them streamed to at that given moment.
The only reason this doesn't happen sooner (as a standard feature, not an aftermarket geek hackjob) is obstinacy in the industry and fear of decentralization of information control. Information is a commodity with a value that gets artificially inflated by arbitrary barriers just the same way DeBeers controls the price of diamonds by hoarding 99% of the world's supply and keeping it locked up. That can change with broader implementation of IP.
The reason I'm intrigued by the possibilities of AppleTV is not simply that I'm an Apple fanboy... and I'm not a fanboy because of any of the latest mania. I've been a fan of Apple design since the 1970's. What intrigues me is that an AppleTV type of device is a very subversive weapon against traditional media control. Who needs to subscribe to 900 channels of crap when you can access any one of thousands of professional-grade podcasts on any subject you can possibly imagine? Who needs record companies when artists can compose, record, produce, market, distribute directly from their studio to your living room? The idea AppleTV seems to be aiming for is one of lethal force against TV networks, against motion picture studios, record companies, news outlets, media conglomerates. And the funny thing is, the motion picture studios probably don't even realize they're helping Apple help us (viewers) nail their own coffin shut.
I see it growing into a convergence hub that allows two-way communication between multiple platforms and AV appliances and gadgets to bring it all together under a dynamic UI that adapts to suit the job at present... I see devices like these sprouting up everywhere in the near future as others enter into the game... rather than a bunch of devices that cannot talk to one another and have to be junked every time someone invents a new grooved frisbee.