Why doesn’t the Xbox 360 have a browser?

We’re sure the question might have bugged you many times. The folks over at Joystiq want an answer to this question too. While I would say that it is a pretty valid question, I have my own opinions as to why it probably won’t happen for a long time, and why Microsoft won’t implement it.

Firstly, there’s the fact that Microsoft has almost the whole desktop software market to themselves. In any case, neither Sony or Nintendo are planning to invade that space. That simple fact has made sure that over 75% of the world is browsing the internet on Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s own browser. Although browsers like Firefox and Opera among others have made inroads into that space, it’s still a meager 15%-20%. You have to realize corporate brains – Why would Microsoft spend money and time to make another browser when they already have over half of the world surfing on Internet Explorer?

Besides, the Xbox 360 isn’t portable which means that you’re probably in your home when you’re on the 360. I think you can probably move a few inches away from your console and check your email on your PC, which by the way, is most probably running Windows and maybe even Internet Explorer.

The main reason why Sony and Nintendo are doing this would be because they want to pull the crowd away from Microsoft. Talking about Nintendo and the Wii, I just remembered that it’s only going to do 480p. Now seriously, people have been complaining about how it’s too difficult to play Dead Rising on their SDTVs because of the small text. Would that argument not apply here? And you have to remember that most of the sites these days recommend a resolution of at least 800×600. I can guarantee you that it won’t be a fun experience browsing the internet on your Wii running Opera at a low resolution.

When talking about Sony, well, they’ve already had a browser on the PSP so they do have some experience with it. Secondly, since they’re directly competing with Microsoft and saying that the PS3 will replace the desktop, it would’ve been absurd not to bundle in a web browser. While they might probably keep the people hooked onto the PS3 because of one more added feature, I don’t see anyone buying the PS3 because it has a web browser, or rather, I don’t see anyone not buying the Xbox 360 because it doesn’t have one. Besides, if it gets too hot for Microsoft, I’m sure they can get a derivative of Internet Explorer on the Xbox 360. What do you think? Should Microsoft implement a browser? Let us know your thoughts through the comments.

We’re sure the question might have bugged you many times. The folks over at Joystiq want an answer to this question too. While I would say that it is a pretty valid question, I have my own opinions as to why it probably won’t happen for a long time, and why Microsoft won’t implement it.

Firstly, there’s the fact that Microsoft has almost the whole desktop software market to themselves. In any case, neither Sony or Nintendo are planning to invade that space. That simple fact has made sure that over 75% of the world is browsing the internet on Internet Explorer, Microsoft’s own browser. Although browsers like Firefox and Opera among others have made inroads into that space, it’s still a meager 15%-20%. You have to realize corporate brains – Why would Microsoft spend money and time to make another browser when they already have over half of the world surfing on Internet Explorer?

Besides, the Xbox 360 isn’t portable which means that you’re probably in your home when you’re on the 360. I think you can probably move a few inches away from your console and check your email on your PC, which by the way, is most probably running Windows and maybe even Internet Explorer.

The main reason why Sony and Nintendo are doing this would be because they want to pull the crowd away from Microsoft. Talking about Nintendo and the Wii, I just remembered that it’s only going to do 480p. Now seriously, people have been complaining about how it’s too difficult to play Dead Rising on their SDTVs because of the small text. Would that argument not apply here? And you have to remember that most of the sites these days recommend a resolution of at least 800×600. I can guarantee you that it won’t be a fun experience browsing the internet on your Wii running Opera at a low resolution.

When talking about Sony, well, they’ve already had a browser on the PSP so they do have some experience with it. Secondly, since they’re directly competing with Microsoft and saying that the PS3 will replace the desktop, it would’ve been absurd not to bundle in a web browser. While they might probably keep the people hooked onto the PS3 because of one more added feature, I don’t see anyone buying the PS3 because it has a web browser, or rather, I don’t see anyone not buying the Xbox 360 because it doesn’t have one. Besides, if it gets too hot for Microsoft, I’m sure they can get a derivative of Internet Explorer on the Xbox 360. What do you think? Should Microsoft implement a browser? Let us know your thoughts through the comments.