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December 23, 2006
Yes, I'm going to hark on Sony again
What the heck is all I can say. I want to love Sony. There are so many great ideas in their product lineup, but such poor delivery or follow through. The worst trend I've noticed in Sony is the way they simply give up in the North American market if something isn't an instant and groundbreaking success. Fair enough, that's probably fallout from the Mini Disc debacle. Honestly though, you've got to stick to your guns sometimes, and just keep improving upon what you've put out there. The Xbox is a perfect example. The first Xbox was somewhat of a joke amongst serious gamers. Japan still hasn't embraced it, but it's got a fairly strong footing in this generation of consoles with the Xbox 360. Mostly because Microsoft took what was a laughably flawed product the first go round, and improved it the second, but stuck with it.
The PS3 will do fine in it's own time. I'm not worried about the PS3, but I would like to see Sony do more with the niche technologies they have lying around. Location Free is brilliant. It's wasted, however on 3 devices. In fact, Sony is ramping up to support it on Windows Mobile phones before they are even going to support it on their own co-branded lineup of phones. Furthermore, they don't support it on the Mylo. What's that all about.
Apple succeeds by taking a strategy and tying it in across their entire product lineup. Not Sony. They seem to enjoy distinct demographic marketing. Never may two demographics utilize the same device.
The Mylo will fail miserably. It already has. Expect Sony to quietly yank it off their site in a few days. The problem? They've failed to market it, and they've failed to utilize it's strongpoints and build on them with software.
I'm excited to see that Sony is embracing some new technologies. Then again, we have their desktop computer lineup which is still toting an outdated series of Pentium D processors from the stoneage. We all know that sony's strength is in laptop comuters, but perhaps that's because it's the only thing they put any effort in with their PC R and D. Well, that's not true, there was the Digital Living System which was cost inhibitive for most, and a gigantic intrusion to many a living room. In fact it still exists. They probably even sell one every once in a while.
The thing that is most frustrating about Sony is that anybody with half a brain can see 10 ways they could slightly change or re-evaluate the leverage between their product lines, and become admired again. I could name them all day long, but Sony doesn't really care.
Ah well. You win some you lose some. And if you are Sony, you lose a lot.
Posted by Decemberice at December 23, 2006 02:56 PM