Sony PS3 Slim flirted with SSDs or network storage
If you want to know where Sony are going next with their PlayStation line, you could do worse than examining some of the decisions they made regarding the recent PS3 Slim refresh. According to a Tech-On! interview with Masayuki Chatani, who works in Sony's strategy planning department, the company considered both a switch to SSD or cloud-based storage to further shave bulk off the updated console.
Both ideas were junked for this generation of PS3, however, because Sony "felt that the price would be too high for the amount of storage capacity the PS3 needs." Meanwhile relatively low network speeds – in comparison to HDD speeds – would have impacted on the gaming experience. Sony also considered making the PSU external, but dismissed it for its potential "restrictions on transport and use."
[via Kotaku]