Damn, this is all the "secret project" was? Im a little disappointed. What was with the boing ball in the picture then? I dont see the connection.
The "its cheaper than the old big box" arguement doesnt really hold much ground for me either. Back then a harddrive was hundreds of dollars, ram was hundreds of dollars and so on. The ROMs were an extra cost and so on.
I do understand why these things are so pricey, but that particular arguement has a tendency to come across as clutching at straws for justification these days (not particularly directed at you MarkTime, but I do see it often used).