> Okay.  I posted this originally and several people made remarks to the
> effect that the original report was not serious.  So, explain this:

One explanation would be that people who should know better--and ought to
check their facts--bought into the hoax. From the cited page:
  "The computer chip and video processor used in the PlayStation2 have 1,000
times the power of the most sophisticated computer on the consumer market,
making them highly desirable for military use, NBC said."

1000? I don't think so. From
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article.asp?aid=15038:
"MDR says that makes the chip two times faster than a 733-MHz Pentium III
and 15 times faster than a 400-MHz Celeron at handling tasks like
full-motion video."