As for Sony, it hasn't offeredan official explanation just yet, but all indications are that it's a bug and not an intentional blocking of hard drive upgrades -- at least we hope it is.
Many husbands and wives I interviewed offeredan additional explanation that housework may be a proxy for a general willingness to invest in shared interests, a symbol of commitment to home and hearth.
One explanation was offered by Washington lawyer Jonathan Lee in an Aug. 23 post on his TeleComSense blog, which he flagged in a comment to my article.