Sony, Walkmans And The iPod

yootje writes "A long story about Sony, and how Sony developed: from the first walkman, until the latest competition against the iPod. "

Comments

Encoding limitations?

[nayigeta]

From the article: "... can play songs encoded in the popular MP3 and Windows Media formats on the computer. However, the program has to convert songs to Sony's proprietary Atrac3 format, the only file type the portable players will support."

I think this is will be a challenge for this device to pick up speed.

The additional effort and time needed to convert MP3 to Atrac3 format might not be a popular.

"The problem is they are a company at war with itself. So because they want to own everything, they end up owning nothing."

Misses something important.

[user no. 590291]

In particular, it fails to mention their efforts to hobble consumer devices, including but not limited to ATRAC and Magic Gate. And no article about Sony's interaction with technology is complete or accurate without a mention of one of their senior executive's Churchillesque rant against peer to peer networks:

"The [music] industry will take whatever steps it needs to protect itself and protect its revenue streams," Heckler said. "It will not lose that revenue stream, no matter what."

We will develop technology that transcends the individual user. We will firewall Napster at source - we will block it at your cable company, we will block it at your phone company, we will block it at your [ISP]. We will firewall it at your PC.

Remember that when you buy Sony, you support the people whose management said these things.

Re:Retail outlets?

[Ced_Ex]

Man.. how old is this article? We've had the "Sony Store" here in Canada for years! All they sell is Sony stuff, and they even have a Sony credit card.

The unfortunate thing about the store is that the prices are way higher than another electronics store selling the same product. Then again... what other electronic store actually showcases bleeding edge products found no where else? Good and bad.

Re:Retail outlets?

[jm92956n]

There's a Sony store here in Manhattan, around 50th and 5th Ave., if I remember correctly. It's a very exclusive area: Brooks Brothers, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany's, and several high end retailers are close by.

I walked into the Sony store and it was nowhere near as nice as the Apple store in SOHO. The store was physically split into two sections each with its own entrance; merchandise was cluttered; there weren't as many product demos as I expected; and the sales staff, I thought, might be more at home at a rural used car dealer lot.

I remember the old Gateway Stores. They weren't nearly as bad as the Sony store.