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Sony, Walkmans And The iPod

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the tunes-on-the-go dept.

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

3 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. Pricing by Zorilla · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I can't think whether the price for a Sony portable music player to compete with the iPod would be higher or lower, seeing that both Sony and Apple sell products the public sees as "premium". Considering that most of Sony's music products are priced high just for the name, they'll have to make competitive pricing for such a product focused point in order to beat Apple at this game.

    --

    It would be cool if it didn't suck.
  2. Take a leaf from the Walkman please Sony... by Aphrika · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Walkman quite possibly defined audio in the 1980s, but Sony seem to have forgotten that this wonderful device that made them tonnes of cash was built around a format invented by someone else; Philip's audio cassette tape.

    You would really have expected Sony to have capitalised on both a) the popularity of MP3s and b) the popularity of their brand. But no - we're stuck with ATRAC - and unfortunately, it looks like they accidentally took a leaf from the Betamax manual. When are they going to learn?

  3. Re:I Don't Think Sony Stands a Chance... by nmk · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The iPod will only be forgotten if Apple stops innovating with the design and features. As you can see with the introduction of the mini, this is not about to happen. Say what you will about the iPod, but the clickwheel is absolutely ingenious. Its becuase of Apples focus on making things as simple as possible that the iPod is selling well. Its not a coincidence that players with more features are unable to make a dent in the iPods market share. People don't give a damn if the player has a mic or not. They want to use it to listen to music, they want it to be styligh, and they want it to be as simple to use as possible. Nobody has come close to Apple in these three prime areas. If someone wants to compete with Apple, it has to be in these three areas. Features be damned. (PS. not many players have integrated PDA functionality and built in games like the iPod.)