Why Harry Potter cannot be set in 1991-?

[erinellii]

No: HPFGUIDX 79239

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Tom Wall" <thomasmwall at y...> 
wrote:
> Seb wrote: 
> "You could let me stay in the house?" said harry hopefully, he 
could 
> watch dudleys T.V and maybe have a go on dudleys playstation for 
> change.
> 
> In 1991, unless I am VERY much mistaken, being a videogame player, 
> the playstation 1 was not around. Please correct me if I am wrong, 
> but I am 99% sure that the playstation was not released six years 
> before the N64, on may 1st 1997.
> 
> If i am correct, then when is Harry Potter set, or has this 
> argument been cleared up?
> 
> Tom replies:
> I have heard this previously, although it was so long ago that I 
> can't find the post on the message board. Perhaps someone more 
> intimately involved in the argument at the time will recall the 
> number of the post.
> 
> I believe that this was resolved by calling it a FLINT, although 
> again, I'm not one-hundred-percent on that.
> 
> -Tom


I once heard someone say that, although the playstation was not 
around in England or the US in 1991, they did have it in Japan. I 
don't know if this info is correct. The person went on to say that 
they thought Dudley's parents had sent to Japan for it, something I 
could easily accept as he is so spoiled.
  But even if it is not correct that they had Playstation in Japan 
in '91, I still wouldn't call it a Flint.  I don't believe JKR 
actually was meaning to date the books when she wrote them, I think 
she meant them to be more of a timeless story for the ages type thing.
The pinning down of the exact dates of everything is something that 
came about because of the fans.  If anything, she erred by writing 
down the date of Nick's death, allowing us fans to get a foothold to 
speculate.
  
Erin