Implicit in every contract for the purchase of merchandise is a warranty that the thing purchased does what it's supposed to do. So, for example, if you buy a vacuum, there's an implicit warranty, made by the manufacturer to the consumer, that it will suck up dirt and debris from ordinary surfaces such as carpet, hard wood floors, etc.
Gaming consoles are no different. In this case, the implicit warranty made by Sony to us is that the PS3 will play PS3 games whenever you want it to, provided you haven't destroyed the PS3 or done something to violate its warranty.
Obviously, with this recent fiasco, Sony has violated that warranty as most of us can't play our damn games.
Everyone with affected PS3, therefore, has suffered injury in one form or another. While it may be difficult to quantify the damages, there are damages nonetheless. Some gamers can't play any of their games at all, meaning the hundreds of dollars they've spent to be a complete waste, at least for the duration of time that it's taking Sony to fix the problem.
Sony needs to realize that this problem isn't one they can simply "fix" with an update. More specifically, the "problem" extends much further than just hardware/software issues, but also encompasses breach of contract issues.
I'm waiting to see how Sony will attempt to make restitution to all of us impacted by their defective hardware/software.