Should Hardware Drivers be Region/Language Locked?

An anonymous reader asks: "Recently, I have purchased Sony's new Hi-MD player. I popped in their driver CD, and instead of installer launching, I was greeted by the message, 'Cannot install for this Windows language.' It seems like it rejected installation, because my default language setting is Japanese, although I am using English version of Windows. I got the response from Sony stating that: 'If you are using a different language set up for your computer, you will not be able to use the software supplied with the product. Unfortunately, currently there is no workaround for this issue. The only option would be to change the language setting of your computer.' Now I'm asking for my money back. The hardware device is practically useless without the software installation, and it seems like they are going too far, especially since this may affect anyone who uses more than one languages on their computer. Isn't this discrimination to multi-lingual people living in the targeted market? And isn't it unfair to impose such restrictions on software that is required to use hardware?"

Comments

not sure if this is lock out

[Siniset]

our just poor Q and A on the install process... my guess is just a bug in the install process that doesn't allow the install to happen if it runs into a non-english language. it really wouldn't make sense to try and lock out users just based on their language. just My two cents.

Re:Not exactly a 'lock-out'

[dmayle]

Not true! In order to do what the poster has described, you have to specifically write code to detect the language in use, then disable install based on the detected language.

In a single language install environment you'll never know about the language installed on the environment. In a multi-language install environment, you check the language in use and try to find an appropriate language.

What has been described above is language lockout plain and simple, and there's no excuse for it (other than import prevention and price fixing).

Laziness != Discrimination

[pedantic bore]

It probably doesn't install simply because they haven't written an installer with the right language strings. They should give you your money back.

I can kind of see their point; if people try to install using instructions in a language they don't know, the results can be random. I was once asked to help a friend install something on her PC. She booted up her PC, popped in the CD, and up came a dialog box. In Chinese. She asked "what should the answer to this question be?" and I asked her "well, what is the question?" It took a long time because the translation process was non-trivial. I can see why Sony might balk at the idea of having their help desk try to sort out the problems experienced by users trying to install on a system using an unfamiliar language.

The questions...

[Vincman]

"Isn't this discrimination to multi-lingual people living in the targeted market? And isn't it unfair to impose such restrictions on software that is required to use hardware?"
Is this the best you came up with? This is is Ask Slashdot, i.e. a tech-crowd. A better question would be:"So did anyone manage, or is planning, to find a way around it, either through some kind of emulation, or possibly by hacking the device/software?"

As for your questions, Sony is a company which is both global and fascist, in the sense that it considers it's own vision, of complete vertical integration, superior to what customers actually want or need. The company does very little market-research, does most of it's R&D and development in Japan, and offers standardised products across the globe. Most decisions regarding products are also made at the top (i.e. Japan, sometimes US) and feedback from the market takes weeks, if not months, to be filtered back after going through dozens of managers. Even so, Sony is under intense pressure to change it's tactics, not from customers directly, but because of better and cheaper competition. For any real change to happen, however, will take a long-long time.

change the OS settings just for the install

[Nyder]

You can just change your OS settings for the install. then change it back.

I think it was CloneCD that had some functions that were illegal in the US and some countries, so if you installed the software in those countries, some features would be disabled. So I'd just change my settings to that have The Netherlands and installed the software (all features enable) changed the setting back and still had access to all the features.

So go to the control panel and change the region settings, install the software, change them back and injoy.

In case it doesn't work when you change it back, then don't. you don't have to have the region settings and language/fonts match. so you can have the computer think it's in japan but using Italian if you like...

Re:Simple Solution

[jrockway]

Here are my sony antecdotes:

Multiscan200sf: still works fine... great moniotor (not as nice as the NEC sitting next it, though... both were free so I'm not going to complain)
Clie NX70: screen fucked itself about 6 months after i bought it... i kept it in a nice metal case, so it wasn't because i dropped it or something)
Clie NX60 (or something): no software updates ever
Memory Stick Camera: the software included caused a hard reset on the PDA
Memory Stick GPS (I didn't buy this, but a person at Bic Camera told me this while we were trying to fix the MemoryStick camera): This is great design at its best. To use GPS, you need a map. To store a map, it HAS to be on a memorystick. The GPS takes up the memorystick slot. In other words, the GPS unit doesn't work on ANY product sony makes. What. the. fuck.
Monitors: My friend had two monitors that blew up a day and a month after the warranty expired. (Not blew up, but they did start a fire!!)
Stereo: Optical Input stopped working. Volume control failed soon after. Why??
CD Player: My gf's CD player stopped working. They told her to take it to the Chicago store. So we went there, and they told us to buy a new one, because they wouldn't fix it. Needless to say we did not buy sony...

Sony makes things that make you want to buy them. They're cool and good looking. Then you buy them and realize what a shitty job they did on the details (sony software SUCKS ROCKS). Their support sucks. They don't update anything. Their quality control is non-existent. They don't even design the damn things right! Then they charge you as if they were good products.

I have to consciously pry myself away from Sony products. They're so neat looking... but they just aren't that great. I hate you, Sony. I hope your overpricing (think 32M "MagicGate" MemoryStick for $60), your shitty quality, and your poor service MAKE YOU GO OUT OF BUSINESS. I don't want a music player that enforces DRM. I don't want a PDA that stops working when the next model comes out. Okay? Okay?

Sorry about the rant, but beware. Don't buy sony. You'll regret it.