Mein gott! Just $1 for a PCWA-A500… what a steal!  :D

I think the biggest problem is that the PCWA series is much too transparent to be a premium-priced Sony product.  Think about it.  You have your WEGA, your VAIO, AIBO, CyberShot, etc.  These are all things that you directly interact with when you use them and can show off to your friends.  On the other hand, working discreetly is exactly what networking equipment is designed to do.  And I don’t think many people are going to go out of their way to show their guests their $300 wireless router.

Instead what Sony should have done is integrate their wireless router tech into a related business, like their RoomLink or LocationFree equipment.  It would have been more expensive than a router alone, but you wouldn’t feel like you’re paying twice as much for the exact same functionality from a competing company.  Too bad with the “businesses-in-a-business” corporate culture in Sony, such collaborations are none too common.  The last major collaboration was probably the Memory Stick, and we all know how that turned out.

[quote author=“VAIOfreak”]I agree with you that it has been a fine line of networking products that is like no other.

You know you’re a Sony Whore when you start inadvertently integrating their new corporate slogan into your vocabulary. 

HEHE…    nice catch jashsu! It was a “Freudian” slip on my side….

Instead what Sony should have done is integrate their wireless router tech into a related business, like their RoomLink or LocationFree equipment.

Actually they have integrated wireless capabilities to their new Roomlink VGP-MR100U - added 802.11b/g support so that now it does not require a wireless converter like PCWA-DE30/50 or 80. Their LocationFree TV also incorporated a/b/g chip (created by Sony btw) and can be used as a wireless access point as well.
WEGA TVs (only in Japan though) also have 802.11a in them. I think AIBo got wireless now too…
All we need now is a CyberShot camera with Wi-Fi. 

[quote author=“VAIOfreak”]HEHE…    nice catch jashsu! It was a “Freudian” slip on my side….

Instead what Sony should have done is integrate their wireless router tech into a related business, like their RoomLink or LocationFree equipment.

Actually they have integrated wireless capabilities to their new Roomlink VGP-MR100U - added 802.11b/g support so that now it does not require a wireless converter like PCWA-DE30/50 or 80. Their LocationFree TV also incorporated a/b/g chip (created by Sony btw) and can be used as a wireless access point as well.
WEGA TVs (only in Japan though) also have 802.11a in them. I think AIBo got wireless now too…
All we need now is a CyberShot camera with Wi-Fi. 

Hmm… The LocationFree tv’s base station containing an access point is a start.  However, what I was thinking was more along the lines of a full convergence (i.e. a LocationFree base station with full wireless access point and internet routing capabilities, which also came bundled with LocationFree software for your desktops and notebooks, that could also access your GigaPocket shared files), which would focus equally on both the router as well as the LocationFree aspect.

CyberShot with Wi-Fi would be nice.  Kodak has a Wi-Fi compatible digital camera.  You could maybe upload photos to a webpage or email them to yourself while you’re on vacation, as well as access your camera at home as a networked drive.

what I was thinking was more along the lines of a full convergence (i.e. a LocationFree base station with full wireless access point and internet routing capabilities, which also came bundled with LocationFree software for your desktops and notebooks, that could also access your GigaPocket shared files

AMEN to that! Though it does have wireless router capabilities, accessing your Giga Pocket files is a not available, or I could say the program does not have the remote code to control your PC. Earlier versions of then called AirBoard had capabilities to get Giga Pocket files.
If I knew how to tweak the LGPL Source Code that Sony shares with the public, maybe I could have done something about it… alas… :?