But giving a console THAT ALREADY HAS AN OPTICAL DISC DRIVE the ability to play CD's? That would probably add pennies (or less) to the overall cost of the console. It would take up no additional space and would not make the console any more fragile. So why not support it? Just because CD's are "old"?
"Pennies or less". Let's call it... what, 2 pennies?
PS4 has sold... what, ~60 million units?
Those pennies add up to $1,200,000. Do you think it's worth over a million dollars so that an extremely small % of people might play a cd in their PS4? More importantly, do you think the -lack- of CD cost them a single sale? Even more importantly, do you think if they spent this additional 1.2 million dollars, do you think anyone who hasn't already bought one would have bought one?
I realize there is some room for 'good will' type additions to a device. But remember, there's always something else people want. You have to draw the line somewhere, and cutting costs like this allowed them to keep a $400 price tag at launch, allow them to drop the price sooner, etc, all of which benefits the end consumer. Sure, they could have included this, and a built in PS3, and a better mic, and.... eventually, the price needs to go up. All in all? I think cutting the ability to play CDs is pretty darn inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.