Required viewing: Sony CEO Howard Stringer on 'Charlie Rose'
Anyone who knows my television viewing habits knows that the only program I have my DVR automatically record for me is Charlie Rose, the long-running PBS talk show (OK, there was a season of Prison Break in there somewhere, too, but let's not talk about that).
Last night's episode, featuring a long, candid conversation with Sir Howard Stringer, chairman and CEO of Sony, should be required viewing for anyone interested in consumer electronics.
During the course of the show, Stringer talks, fairly knowledgeably, about the PlayStation 3, how Sony lost the portable music player market, how Blu-ray vs. HD DVD played out differently than the Betamax vs. VHS battle, the future importance (and current impracticality) of OLED displays, and the painfully low margin on PC hardware (even expensive Vaios). He also makes a surprisingly spirited pitch for the PlayStation Network as a delivery system for all kinds of content (check out his ideas about using the PS3 and PlayStation Network as a platform capable of sharing content with the iPhone).
Rather than pull a bunch of out-of-context quotes, here's the whole episode, handily embedded for your viewing pleasure.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan.
