PS3 Error 8001050F

If you haven't heard yet, and if you haven't it doesn't make much difference anymore, there was a problem with the older PS3's, the "chunky" models, in which they thought 2010 was supposed to be a leap year. When they were started up they tried to sync with their home servers, something that always happens, and were told they had the wrong date. Theyproceeded to handle the situation as best they could, by throwing an 8001050F and crashing.

As of today, March 2, 2010, the problem has been solved, there is no longer any issues associated with getting your PS3 started and playing games, however that is not because they did anything to fix the problem, but simply because the problem doesn't exist anymore. All the PS3's clocks reset themselves and came to an agreement with their servers that it is in fact March 2 today and carried on as if nothing happened. The question I have is, was this handled right?

Having worked in software development,specifically QA, I understand that bugs happen and no amount of testing will ever weed them all out. Furthermore, having participated in writing requirements for software features, I also understand that design concepts of all needed concepts can be a bit tenuous, it's almost impossible to consider every single quirk and need. Having said that though, date problems are a bit ridiculous; I think most of us are still able to remember the paranoia of Y2K, and leap years occur much more often then millenniums. Finally lets consider Sony's response to this situation: Lets just wait it out.

Can you really fault Sony for an oversight or not wanting to expend money and resources on such a specific glitch? I think we can! We pay for their product with the understanding that they will provide a stable product that does what it needs to when we need it to and if it doesn't, they'll fix it; but thats not what happened. I've always been a bit more pro 360 than PS3 and while this may not stack up against the Red Ring of Death that so many people had, at least Microsoft stood up and said, yes, we will take care of your problem.

So much of our world is based on trust and interpretation, especially now in this electronic world. I can remember as little as 20 years ago you usually saw the face of someone you were dealing with and could decide if you were going to trust them; you still took your chances, but at least you got a shot at a gut feeling.

I'm not saying Sony screwed up royally, but I'll remember this the next time I make a purchase or a recommendation. Sony lost a few points on my scale, not because of a problem, but because of their reaction to the problem.