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Sony Already Lost Media War to Apple?
Declan McCullagh writes "Sony's Walkman was the king of media players. Now Apple's iPod is, and Sony Connect was a flop. But Sony's problems may soon be even bigger: the company is having a remarkably difficult time coordinating software development across different divisions and continents, and some managers are worried that things may be getting worse. Will Apple's recent forays into the living room create even more of a problem for Sony?"
Actually, there is at least one social practice the iPod made possible:
Carrying all your music with you; a soundtrack to your life.
Prior to the iPod you had three choices:
1) Unit based players, like a CD player or a tape cassette with limited music selection
2) Network based players, like a AM/FM radio with limited music selection
3) MP3 players, like the Nomad or Rio with crude design and usability
The iPod, in one package, provide three things the other three existing devices did not have:
1) Wide music selection (your entire music collection)
2) Easy music selection (not only your entire collection, but being to easily browse through it)
3) Portable music selection (smaller than everything out there with a comparable storage density; the Rio was smaller, but only could store 128mb!)
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