Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Sony explained it in some interview. It required a different type of hardware (ROM, etc) and no one used it.
 
Business sense....

The rom that basically allows you to select an 'other os' costs Sony a small amount of $

They estimated the cost of including it in all their new PS3 slim's which still cost Sony more to produce than they sell for, was simply untenable to the amount of users who actually use Linux on their machine.

They saw that the vast majority want the PS3 to come down in price. Compare that to the fractional minority who will mess around with Linux on the PS3 before realizing that it's actually crappy on the PS3 and then delete it to make more room back on their PS3 HDD's was too negligible to justify the continued expense.

For similar reasons Sony determined that there as no more need for PS2 backward compatibility. Their desire is to drive forward PS3 software sales and recoup $$$$ on the hardware losses.

Just business.
 
For similar reasons Sony determined that there as no more need for PS2 backward compatibility. Their desire is to drive forward PS3 software sales and recoup $$$$ on the hardware losses.

Just business.

Or an even better example is them dropping the two additional USB ports that shipped with the 60gb launch model. Really, how much did those save them? Pennies on the dollar, but they dropped them anyway.
 
It was pointless for the huge majority of PS3 users.

It's just one more thing for people that want to complain to complain about (OP). No one will really miss it, it was pointless and quite honestly not too usable.
 
I just picked up a PS3 slim in Oct. In my humble opinion the price reduction was far more important to me then the ability to run Linux or the loss of 2 USB ports (I can alway pick up a hub if I need more then 2). The loss of ps2 bwc may be more of an issue to some but I still have my PS2 if I ever really feel the need to play those games again. Given the sales that Sony has seen for the PS3 slim I think they made the right decision.
 
It's the only reason I'm not upgrading. Lose the ability to rip Blu-ray to Apple TV.
 
I'm just waiting for the non-slims to go out of production so I can sell my two PS3s to someone that wants to run linux on them. Then I'll replace them with the new slim models.
 
It's the only reason I'm not upgrading. Lose the ability to rip Blu-ray to Apple TV.

yeah i was thinking the same thing. only reason i think i'd use it

Except of course if you wanted any experience programming on the Cell platform which is quite a unique platform. I know MIT used to have a course in the Computer Science degree that required a PS3.

really? that's pretty cool
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.