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'Anonymous' Plans Sony Boycott On April 16
Here's an excerpt from PCMag:
"Say you're a hacker trying to cripple a major electronics company for suing its own users: how do you launch a cyberattack without harming the people you're trying to protect? In the case of hactivist group 'Anonymous,' which has spent the week targeting Sony to retaliate against Sony's ongoing lawsuits against PlayStation 3 modifiers, you take it offline.
Anonymous is staging a 24-hour, in-store boycott at Sony stores around the world on Saturday, April 16. So far over 1,000 people have RSVP'd through Facebook."
They'd better start at the top, with the decision maker (the guy you always see petting his white pussy.... cat), and the lawyers who execute his orders. Mid level people are as expendable and meaningless and 'innocent' as the consumers are.
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
I really need to get out more..
If Anonymous participants RSVP'd through Facebook then doesn't that make them no longer Anonymous? If they show up at a Sony store then they will be associated with the anonymous group. Are they really Anonymous?
These guys should avoid doing real life events, it will only underscore how few they are, constantly fighting fire with fire.
They've got 1000 people for a worldwide boycott. I agree, this protest will be like a dust mite crawling across Sony's monocle.
Funny may not give karma, but +5 Informative never made anyone snort coffee out their nose.
If you are RSVPing.. doesn't that take away the anonymity?
Doesn't sound like much, but that will be enough to quadruple the in-store crowds around here.
I can't walk by the Sony Store in the local mall without comparing it to the Apple store a few steps away and guffawing at how far Sony has fallen from relevance. If it weren't for their gaming division, they'd be no different from Generic South Korean Electronics Co., Ltd.
And if gamers would just stop giving them money the company might actually be forced to take stock of its own behavior.
A boycott is a form of consumer activism involving the act of voluntarily abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization, or country as an expression of protest, usually for political reasons.
sit-in == protest. boycott == protest. and yet, boycott != sit-in.
I'm still not going to sign anything associated with "anonymous." That's just asking for trouble. But before anonymous started making headlines, I have been vehemently against Sony and its products and my history shows it. I just hope this boycott catches on. Sony needs to be taken down a notch.
Damn you brainless consumers!! Don't you know that Sony is bad?
Hmm, that argument doesn't hold very far IMO.. they could save a lot more money by just withdrawing the lawsuit altogether versus what they are going to lose from this action.
Bender: Hear me, hear me! Stop eating Popplers! Stop eating them with honey mustard sauce......stop eating them with tangy sweet and sour sauce. Stop eating the new fiesta Poppler salad. Stop taking advantage of the money-saving 12-pack. Stop enjoying Popplers on the patio, in the car, or on the boat. Wherever good times are had! Ow!
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Sony (and other japanese electronics companies) still have a captive market in japan, but globally the "Generic South Korean Companies", I assume you mean Samsung or LG, are individually worth more than than the sum of all the japanese electronic consumer companies and are clearly outcompeting both japanese and chinese companies at present in most key sectors.
People who witnessed them in their heyday in the 80's and 90's might still base their comments on past reputation, but anybody keeping up with the times knows better.
Who actually buys from the Sony store anyway? They don't have a loyal cult like Apple does. I imagine almost all their sales are via other retail channels.
So let me get this straight. A group whose primary strength lies in maintaining an air of mystery and anonymity on the internet is going to stage a real-life sit-in boycott.... in the stores of a company which makes and/or sells a significant amount of image and video recording equipment. Much of which is on-display and functional in said stores, or otherwise easily accessible. And they're warning them about this beforehand.
Oooooookay...
Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
Boycott it only on that day? Wouldn't that make them plain old hypocrites?
Call me old-fashioned but shouldn't Sony products be avoided anyway if there's a reasonable alternative? ...).
Hidden stuff (e.g., LCD panels) is a different story, similar to products where Sony is involved as shareholders. But at least try to avoid Sony-branded stuff (TV, laptops,
Unless it's something you have to buy everyday. So I buy the day before or after.
Even worse, this is limited to Sony stores. I'd love to see their percentages versus Sony products sold in WalMart and Best Buy.
Reminds me of those gas boycotts.
Want to make change? If a couple million PS3's and all games all hit GameStop, eBay, etc and the like on the same day, the flood would cripple the market value of said console. Problem: you'd have to give up your PS3. Moral: you can't simultaneously boycott someone and be their bitch.
...by giving graf_chokolo and geohot money. My household is free of Sony products too, and has been that way since the rootkits.
This isn't that anonymous, this is the other anonymous, anonymous.
In a reply to most of the commenters out there who seem to think either anonymous is forsaking anonymity or that this won't help practically, please realize this is in a way a symbolic protest against Sony. Hell, all protests are symbolic, holding up some sign and chanting nice words doesn't change anything, but it gathers attention to your cause, which is very important if you are a minority.
Yes the boycotts actually accomplish more, etc, but this at least demonstrates a more visible opposition to them which again is important.
After the Geohot site visitor account rape-age I'm on a one decade boycott of all Sony products.
But from RTFA, it looks like this is more of a sit-in. I guess Anonymous are all too young to know what a 'sit-in' is.
The consumer divisions of all these heavy industries are like ticks on a rhinoceros. Or even more cynically, they are fronts for organized criminal counterfeiters and smugglers.
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
And that will happen because you complain in comments on mainstream (more than it is not) website for "nerds". At least someone, or some people, are doing something.
You sound like a shill because the PS3 is not open. Not anymore, if you're running PSN that means you have upgraded and lost the OtherOS feature.
3D? seriously? 'Sony has delivered'?
Do you work for NMS?
Slashdot needs Geekcode | Can anyone recommend any good SCIFI? My tastes: Foundation, Startide Rising, CITY, Ringworld,
This may be a silly question, but who still buys Sony anyway?
They're constantly trying to shove their expensive, non-standard shit down everyone's throat, leaving you with devices whose removable memory costs several times more than the standards everyone else uses.
I understand that the Playstation 3 has some great games, but why support a company that's consistently more interested in building an empire than working with its customers?
It's been a long time.
They've got 1000 people for a worldwide boycott. I agree, this protest will be like a dust mite crawling across Sony's monocle.
And you're assuming all those people will actually show up and participate. On the other hand I'm betting - worldwide - the number of actual participants will be less than 20. There might be a few dozen more that show up at the store but don't really do anything an objective observer would consider "participating".
#DeleteChrome
Pretty big gamble by members of the anonymous crowd: if the giant massive preplanned SHOW OUR STRENGTH RAR! sit-in ends up being 12 fat guys, 3 furries, and a couple of abhumans that finally left their parent's basement, the anon-movement will take a giant credibility hit. Kinda like when the brought down Amazon.com for a couple minutes... really showed 'em then!
A friend of mine has a theory that Anonymous is backed by the US government to help them gain support for further eroding our privacy. My initial reaction was "that's crazy", but then it reminded me of Operation Northwoods, which had the backing of every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Great that some are committed at going after Sony through public protests. But do such protests really work? Or are they just public spectacles that get lost in the mass-media 24/7 news cycle...
Civil disobedience at a large enough level can be effective, such as so many people breaking the speed limit that finally the U.S. Federal mandated 55MPH limit was repealed in the mid-1990s.
However, it seems few people really care about DRM to go out of their way to knowingly break the law, let alone do so publicly.
Not sure what the answer is other than throwing a lot of money at politicians to change the laws (DMCA for starters), but good luck outbidding Sony, Disney, et al in that pursuit.
Not sure what the answer is other than individuals and small groups seeking out hardware mods / DRM crackers and sharing them among friends ... and over time, if enough people do likewise, maybe change will occur at a large-scale level, but if it doesn't, at least one will still get much of the benefits now within their local group of friends, family, etc; their tribe so to speak.
Ron
I have been really happy with Sony as well. I may spend a few bucks on the 16th to show my support for Sony. Not sure what I would spend my money on. Nothing I want at the moment.
I'm looking for a new camcorder and will not be buying Sony for two reasons. The first reason is I don't like them anymore after they started suing their customers and the second reason, I have lots of SD cards lying around, so I don't want to buy something where I have to invest in a different standard.
Sony should throw a sale that day. Stuff an Anon might want.
Would this, by any chance, be the same DMCA that's been decried from the very start as a Corporate lobbied removal of existing liberties?
My, I think it just might.
GeoHot happened to disagree that a corporation has the right to dictate what you can or can't do with an item you've purchased, so he worked out how to do whathe wanted on his own machine.
Now, he distributes that knowledge to a variety of people who are interested in doing the same. Personally, I'd love the ability to have the 'Other OS' functionality back on my PS3. I put my money where my mouth was in supporting the idea that it should be there (I hadn't really been much interested in purchasing a console, but I liked that a corporation would open up a console for the home brew/enthusiast crowd; the very same ideals I had when I was a kid/teenager in the 70s and 80s), and thought 'hell, I can play a game or two on it to justify the spend, and it'll be good to reward a company for even attempting to do something slightly enlightened in this age of trying to lock everything down and out. More than anything, I think I was disappointed in Sony execs. It was a dishonourable thing to do (strike a deal, then renege on it). Western companies, sure I can see them doing just that, but acting with dishonour in the Japanese culture?
Wow.
Still, I find your argument that we should all cheer on Sony because they choose to charge someone under an unethical law for attempting to regain his side of a deal that was struck at the point of payment to be a little naive.
I bought the console simply because it gave me options to do A and B.
After I buy, the company decide that now they only want me to do B. I can do A if I want, but they'll prevent me doing B for as long as I choose to do A.
Should I ever choose to do B, then I can never do A.
Someone works out a way to do A and B again, and the company immediately drag them to court.
Personally, I'd cheer anyone on who attempts to get me my original deal back again. GeoHot did that. So I applaud him for it. Yes, he's in court for his own actions, but that doesn't mean I'm on Sony's side in this; I find their dealings with me to be dishonourable. I consider the DMCA to be unethical.
Really, the USA has fallen a long way, and I somewhat suspect the idealists who started the American war of Independence would be spinning in their graves.
There was an unfair levy placed, and a stripping of liberty on the country, so they threw a whole load of tea into a harbour, and were remembered for centuries as heroes who started a rebellion. I'm a Brit, and I'm pretty much an "establishment" person. I'm still behind the guys who did this all the way.
I wasn't behind the DDOS and compromising of companies. I am behind the peaceful civil unrest of people turning round and saying "this is unjust", and spreading the message. I'm pondering taking part myself, and calmly explaining to people that anything they buy on features could suffer exactly the same fate, and that the company now has an established track record for dishonouring their point of sale promise of functionality.
Personally, I really hope the media takes this and runs with it. It'll be interesting to see how much of a PR hit Sony takes with this one, and how it starts to affect sales at time of austerity, where everyone wants to be able to rely on their vendor.
No, I don't want to see Sony fail. But I want them to understand that actions have consequences, and their action in removing the original deal has a price. And I'd really like them to understand that this may be a price that in future they'll know they don't want to pay.
Ah for an idea world. I suspect it won't hurt them that much, and they'll carry on, knowing they can renege on any deal with impunity. We, as customers, cannot.
What a lovely world us mere mortals live in 'eh? Where's that representation when you need it?
Just throwing this out there, I'm not available to go do this myself, but a TV-B-Gone or similar "universal TV turner-offer" device would be useful for this action. Even if you're not visibly obviously "doing protesting", you can help Sony reduce their carbon footprints by turning off all their store display TVs for them.
Why use all those words? If you want to just bury your head in the sand just say it. "I don't care about other people, I just want to bury my head in the sand." See? Was that so hard?
Maybe they will wear masks? I think this is more of a feel good party than a boycott. Show up someplace easy to get to. Wear a mask. Get a thrill when the mall cop asks you to leave. Network with like minded people later.
So much angst... over playthings and trinkets... What a waste...
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Is he "The" Anonymous ?
It's easy to say, while sitting at your computer in your underwear, that you'll do something. It's another matter to actually show up in meatspace.
Nobody will notice, and the few that show up won't find anyone protesting and will be too embarrassed to stay. If three show up they won't even know the others were there.
Here in California was basically have organized crime for a state government, but, yeah, Sony is such a big menace to me and mine.
Talk about bizzare conspiracy theories .. here, have a "LOL".
But in any case, no, I'm talking about the electronics divisions (which are separate companies in their own right), not the conglomerates as a whole. Presently Japanese electronic firms are being forced into deals with taiwanese companies or being forced to look for new products types in order to compete, they still retain some reputation from the 80's and 90's but in todays world they're not the leaders of the pack, cost or quality wise.
I had an incredibly bad customer service situation back in the early 2000's with Sony.
I have not bought a Sony product since. It's never been a challenge to find an equivalent product or do without for a while til one became available.
I know it's a bit irrational- but it's my money and their customer service was unhelpful and then rude. I don't need to give money to a company like that.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Masks are certainly an option, this isn't the first action of anon in the real world, there were quite a few gatherings outside the church of scientology, most wore masks, usually also blasting Rick Astley or Fresh prince music from the outside.
Hmm, that argument doesn't hold very far IMO.. they could save a lot more money by just withdrawing the lawsuit altogether versus what they are going to lose from this action.
There are 27 Sony stores in the United States.
2,800 Walmart Superstores.
Where you will find the PS3 comfortably positioned among big screen HDTV sets and rack after rack of console video games, DVD and Blu-Ray videos.
I'm curious, exactly what "customers" have they sued? No-one I know who has purchased Sony products had been sued, and I'm sure that people who crack consoles to play pirated games are not customers in the proper sense.
Someone who purchases a hardware product then violates the TOS by distributing hacked software they do not have a right to might be considered a customer that may have legal problems in the future, but would a person who shops at a grocery store and is caught shoplifting be considered a criminal or a customer first?
Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for Sony Online Entertainment LLC, Laura Naviaux resigned today in disgrace due to the unexpected effectiveness of Saturday's boycott... A replacement will be before the end of the week..
Tuesday, April 19, 2011:
The Prime Minister of Japan has announced the creation of a new copyright enforcement department with full police powers and licensed to kill. Former Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for Sony Online Entertainment LLC, Laura Naviaux has been assigned to head up the operation, and will work with full diplomatic immunity while overseas. All other law enforcement departments, national and local, are ordered to offer full priorities and cooperation.
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
So your comparing this Sony issue to the American War of Independance? The vast majority of people don't give a shit about being able to modify their game controls. There is already a remedy in place for this situation, just stop buying their products. Oh wait, that might not be enough to change Sony's policy. Because they can probably absorb the high cost of maybe losing .0003 percent of their potential customers.
the point of them being a corporation is to make money.
NO! Quit repeating that. The point is to create wealth, add value to society. It is not just to "make money". Money is only a proxy, an imperfect measure of value. Why imperfect? Because there are all kinds of destructive actions that make one small group or individual richer, or only seemingly richer, at the expense of everyone else. The simplest way is outright theft. Lying is another popular one. Bribery is yet another ancient practice. Obtaining a monopoly and gouging the public is the holy grail of profit, and far too many corporations strive for that. Recently we've seen another way: Too Big to Fail. Corporations, to their shame, do all that and more, all the time. Worse, they think that's just life. It need not be! We try to maintain some civility, outlaw destructive actions, and police our corporate citizens, but it isn't easy. There will always be some crime, of course. But we must keep the fraud and deceit in check, or the system will collapse. Damn near happened in 2008, but we were able to bail everyone out. We didn't do it for their sakes, but for our own. Next time, we might not be able to, and then what? I'm not impressed with their behavior. We suffer their existence because they do add value. If ever they fail us, make such a mess that the damage they cause exceeds all possible future value, and we know of it, we can sink them. They know that. But we are very forgiving, maybe too forgiving, and they know that too. For instance, I doubt that BP could survive another disaster like the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Perhaps BP should have been liquidated, and their management thrown in jail.
I really don't see what your problem with Geohot is. Even if he's an attention whore, as you allege, so what? Blaming him for Sony's actions is ridiculous. He didn't "make" them do anything. He has every right to do anything he wants with his property, EULAs be damned. And to exercise his right to free speech. All he did was point out that the Emperor Has No Clothes. Their DRM is a joke and a fraud, just like the Emperor's clothes.
Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"
It makes be wonder if some of those in power haven't got some kind of dynamo gizmo hooked-up to the founding fathers' corpses.
Requiem for the American Dream
So assuming that most of stores have only 1 or 2 people in them, so we need on average 5 people per store to quadruple the number of people in the store ... that means they can only do that in 200 stores with 1000 people ... and while I've not been in a Sony store ... I'm pretty sure that if they only have 1 person on average in them, they'd probably close them down pretty quickly to stop losing money. So while 1000 people might be able to make a difference in your area, they aren't all in your area, thats world wide ... for one day ...
It will probably enlighten at least a few people who will take the initiative to learn more about the issue.
I probably would if I saw it just out of curiosity.
However I'd also likely conclude that the protest was being done by a bunch of obnoxious douche bags who just got in my way that particular day. Not a group of people I particularly feel like being associated with. All of that assumes of course, that 1000 people spread out around the world, are going to make a difference that I would actually notice, which is unlikely.
Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
Through your government, you have granted the corporation this authority. Do not complain when they actually use it.
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
Would the grocery store sell you 6 bananas, then show up at your house later in the day to reclaim them and replace them with a stick of butter?
You sound like a shill because the PS3 is not open. Not anymore, if you're running PSN that means you have upgraded and lost the OtherOS feature.
He sounds like a customer who is satisfied with what the PS3 Slim has to offer.
The PS3 Fat has been out of production since 2009. There have been seven firmware upgrades since 3.21 in April of last year.
In April 10 of this year, about 7 of the top 25 bestsellers in video gane hardware and software at Amazon.com are games for the PS3.
The PS3 is "closed" to the OtherOS.
But it is "open" to the 1080p Netflix stream with theater surround sound. The MOVE controller, sterographic 3D and so on.
Features which actually sell product in the home entertainment market.
I quit using/buying etc etc, any Sony products (except the ones I got "previews of) when they got caught loading up their music CD's with malware somewhere back around 2002 or '03. Why would anyone thing that a company that got caught doing such a think and got away with it penalty free wouldn't do something like it again (and again and again ad nauseum)? Just stop buying the Sony branded items that you can't "borrow".
When I am not hugging my life sized Picard real doll, I happen to enjoy my Sony 3D tv and I also happen to enjoy my PS3. Am I a bad person? I don't think so. Maybe if I was an angry person in my youth I would be more fired up about this whole situation but perhaps my age/maturity has mellowed me because I just don't get the boycott/blind allegiance to anonymous diatribe. I works hard for my money and after I come home to my mid sized apartment next to the freeway, I happen to like my Sony products, go figure. I like how my Bravia sync communicates with my Sony receiver, PS3 and Bravia 3D TV. All of these l33t slashdot threads about casting off Sony products due to "geohot" just makes me roll my eyes. I don't idolize mortals. Sorry if I am rambling but after a bottle of 2 buck chuck and a hour of playing all my favorite joy division and dir en grey tracks on the Sony Q Music service, I get a little teary eyed and prolific in the odd hours of the night. A vote against Sony means the Tsunami won. - PerlHun * a long time slashdot lurker but finally created my account today - hooray for 2400 baud modems *
>Anonymous
>Facebook
lol
Contrary to the popular belief, there indeed is no God.
Only 1000 answered? In ALL the world? Wow, what an interesting non-event this is going to be. If all of those 1000 showed up with a bomb or serious firepower, that would be different. 1000 bombs going off in one day, or 1000 shootouts, that would send a message. Those clowns know nothing. If you want to cause disruption, choose a date near major holidays when sells are traditionally higher, and hit those. Set off firecrackers or smoke bombs. Maybe cause a fire, the stampede would be a sight. Know any simple chemistry? Chlorine has never been an effective chemical weapon in open spaces, but in enclosed areas it's a killer, plays rough on the airways. Do that on the crowd standing on the DVD or games area and you're guaranteed some lost sales. But to hurt a giant corporation like Sony, you've got to hit the offices, you've got to hit the corporate officials, you've got to hit the developers. Do you know how much an ace game developer team is worth to Sony? If they were to be killed off before project completion and after it has been announced with big ad expense, that would be serious damage. Pick your targets, folks.
Geeks are so full of shit that "beating the crap out of them" takes a whole new meaning.
I have deliberately not purchased any Sony products since the Rootkit fiasco of 2005. Up until then, Sony was a trusted, quality brand for me and I had quite a few Sony gadgets around the place. No longer.
So I'm going to "sit out" instead.
Sean Ellis
Follow OfQuack's antics on Twitter.
Good luck.
You sound like a shill because the PS3 is not open. Not anymore, if you're running PSN that means you have upgraded and lost the OtherOS feature.
3D? seriously? 'Sony has delivered'?
Do you work for NMS?
Yeah someone must be a shill for being perfectly satisfied that their games console works as intended.
I regret OtherOS disappearing but I can completely understand why it was taken away. Geohot developed a viable crack that undermined the entire platform so it was removed. People should be pissed at him rather than Sony for doing what they obviously had to do to protect their platform.
No they are not. Japan is still the largest consumer electronics manufacturing country in the world. Japan is bigger than Sony. Japan has Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, NEC, JVC, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Canon, Pentax, Nikon, Sanyo and others.
You also have to remember that the Korean companies are conglomerates, and their activity include things like shipbuilding, chemicals and even clothing. That is not to say that the Korean haven't been competing harder. They have.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave" "Okay" ...
(whips out pistol and shoots security guard/manager in the face). "Anyone else?"
Geeks are so full of shit that "beating the crap out of them" takes a whole new meaning.
That's why you must plan it differently: when the local rent-a-cop thugs show up all ready to show their authority, pull out the guns (you're not telling me you're not bringing any, do you?) and shoot them dead on the spot. Two shots to the chest. Execute any survivor with a head shot. Take the store manager and cut his throat before the assembled employees, then get their IDs. Explain to them that you have nothing against them but if they talk to the cops you will assassinate one of their families' member. Torch the place, leave. What's so difficult about that?
Geeks are so full of shit that "beating the crap out of them" takes a whole new meaning.
If they're evenly spread worldwide, we can safely assume that the odd Sony store here and there will have one person come in, decide that they'd look a bit silly trying to run a protest on their own and walk away again.
Yeah! Stick it to the Man, Anonymous! Show those Sony bastards that--
Ooh, 10% off and a free t-shirt if I pre-order Infamous 2. Done and done!
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
I have made a vow to not buy any more Sony products for the rest of my life. I get fooled now and then by a movie I rent, but my intention is clear. Too bad there aren't a million people who feel just like I do about them
I've not knowingly bought anything with Sony's mark on is since the rootkit incident in 2005 (or there abouts). Of course it has had no effect on Sony, but it has had no effect on my life either. It helps that their hardware, while once great quality, is these days as cheap and unreliable as the next guy, their insistence on releasing products that don't properly support the de-facto standard formats & access methods and with other features missing from competing products that are cheaper.
I may have been to see a couple of movies with their brand attached over the years, but that is it.
I doubt a couple of thousand people making an inconvenience of themselves on one day is going to make a lot more difference than my personal (in)action has, but by all means let the children play.
Unless of course you're using "intensive purposes" in a pun on intensive properties, such as density, concentration, or GDP per capita, as opposed to extensive properties, such as mass, molar amount of a substance, or a nation's GDP.
most wore masks, usually also blasting Rick Astley or Fresh prince music
Guess who owns RCA Records, the label that both Astley and Will Smith were on at the time.
Sony didn't have to remove the OtherOs to protect their platform - in fact, the efforts to crack the platform intensified when they did that. I used to be a Sony customer and occasionally used the OtherOs option on my PS3 to play around with the system and that was one of the reasons that I bought a PS3. I'm now annoyed that Sony have removed an advertised feature from my console (I also use it to play games), so in future, I'm going to look to pirate PS3 games as I don't want Sony to get any more of my money
You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
How do I go into a grocery store without hearing the products of Sony Music on the speaker system?
[Sony Computer Entertainment] have in fact been more open with their console then Nintendo or MS has.
How? It'd be one thing if Sony had a direct counterpart to Xbox Live Indie Games, allowing anybody to make games, run them on the console, and submit them to the console's official market. But I haven't even been able to Google up the developer qualifications for the PlayStation family platforms (this press release mentions two sites that are down at the moment), and I see no reason to believe they're materially different from Nintendo's: you have to have a corp or LLC with a dedicated office, and it has to have released a commercial title on another platform.
But does not affording to anyway, count?
and history lessons. Tell them about the rootkits, the disabling of features on customers devices, the lawsuits, and anything else screwed up that Sony has done to their customers
Remember the scene in "Airplane" where Robert Stack bulldozes his way through every sort of missionary zealot?
It's cherished because no one welcomes the intrusion - and the more obscure the cause the less anyone is willing to listen. Airplane - Airport Missionaries
It has been a year since the OtherOS made its departure from the PS3 - there have been seven firmware upgrades since - and no one but the geek gives a damn. .
One figure says it all: Combined operating profits at Japan's nine major consumer and industrial electronics makers for the most recent quarter were $1.7 billion.
Alone, South Korea's Samsung Electronics earned over twice that.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125732757764927689.html
.. Japan is still a strong player in the electronics fields by all means, but theír role is being restricted to specialised component manufacture. They still has their niche areas, eg. cameras, game consoles, etc but the overall picture is pretty clear, which is why companies like Sony are desperately trying to create new markets that are free from competition.
Pretty much in black and white
Been unknowingly boycotting that company for years. Their products just aren't my taste. W/e, I'll rsvp.
Sony didn't have to remove the OtherOs to protect their platform - in fact, the efforts to crack the platform intensified when they did that. I used to be a Sony customer and occasionally used the OtherOs option on my PS3 to play around with the system and that was one of the reasons that I bought a PS3. I'm now annoyed that Sony have removed an advertised feature from my console (I also use it to play games), so in future, I'm going to look to pirate PS3 games as I don't want Sony to get any more of my money
Yes they did have to remove it. Geohot demonstrated a viable attack against the hypervisor through OtherOS. The exploit was sufficient that he could run any unsigned code he liked which would have lead to custom firmware which in turn would have lead to the same situation as on the PSP. Its quite obvious the choice Sony had - either remove OtherOS now before the crack could be developed OR watch as their platform descends into rampant piracy and their 3rd party support ran a mile. With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake it was not a hard choice for them to make.
I'm sure some people such as yourself were affected. I'm also sure that most of the people kicking up a stink about it now never even bothered with the feature in the first place and most probably don't even own a PS3.
They did have a choice as they could have played cat and mouse with upgrading firmwares to try to prevent Geohot's attack as it wasn't a complete attack. However, the PS3 platform has now been completely hacked as Sony are now in a position of trying to revoke their signing key which isn't a practical thing to do.
I think they made a grave mistake with how they handled the whole affair as they more or less forced hackers to compromise the entire code signing kaboodle. Also, suing Geohot is a bad PR move as it calls attention to the fact that the PS3 system is now permanently compromised.
You're a temporary arrangement of matter sliding towards oblivion in a cold, uncaring universe
Profits ebb and flow. But by most measures, Japan still leads the world in electronics.
Just lately, belatedly, the Japanese are taking note of what Korea has done during Japan’s “lost decade.” Let me offer a shocking example of the current Japan/Korea gulf. Most Japanese consumers still don’t know who Samsung is. To my surprise, many big electronics chain stores in Japan do not even carry flat panel TVs made by Samsung – undisputedly the world’s largest LCD manufacturer.
But out of sight of consumers, the Japanese business community is abuzz with the rise of Samsung. They can’t seem to have enough of Samsung stories. Drop into any Tokyo book stores. Books and magazines with headlines like “Samsung’s global market strategies,” “Japan’s new growth plan: How not to lose to Samsung,” “Samsung’s weakness,” or “Don’t fear Samsung,” are flying off the shelf.
Or talk to any Japanese businessmen working in the electronics industry. Your conversation will inevitably turn to an analysis of Samsung.
http://eetimes.eu/en/5-reasons-why-samsung-scares-japan.html?cmp_id=7&news_id=222902107
I'm sorry if that offends you in some way but it's pretty clear to anyone watching the industry.
Slashdot: the only forum for discussion in the world where politely offering a counterpoint is considered "trolling". For shame, mods.
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
They will, only, they will for a different value of "enough".
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
I didn't say Japanese electronics companies were the best. You are making things up. I said Japan makes the _most_ electronics good of any country and are leaders in that respect. The whole best thing is 1) subjective and 2) a strawman. And they are still incredibly innovative, and certainly dominant in some markets. (Game consoles and Digital Cameras).
What emotional investment are you talking about. I am stating facts. Japan is still the largest manufacturer of consumer electronic goods in the world. That is a cold hard fact. Of course Samsung scares the Japanese. In fact, Samsung is the single largest electronics manufacturer in the world. That is also a fact. Nokia is the world's largest mobile manufacturer. The fact that it made less profit than Apple, HTC and Samsung doesn't change that. Unless you now believe that Apple is now the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world!
Japan is still the world's largest electronics manufacturer. Samsung is bad news for Sony, Panasonic, Canon, Sharp, JVC, NEC, Toshiba, LG (a fellow Korean company), Pentax, Nikon, Nintendo, etc.