Comments on: Could an open Sony beat Apple?

The CEO of Sony thinks the company could have beaten Apple with open technology. How about creating a better user experience?

Hindsight is a great thing, you can always look back as say how we could have done better. But it's totally pointless for Sony to moan about how they 'may' have beaten Apple. The fact is that Sony lacked the foresight to develop a product and to nurture an ecosystem which would catch the attention of the public. They just carried doing what every one else was doing, with no 'real' invocation, just occasion slightly 'cooler' exterior design. It's kind of typical (and sad) of all high-end manufacturing firms in the current era, unwilling to make any 'risky' but world changing decisions. Apple did and they changed the way people consume music, they also made quite a bit of money too. Without companies like Apple the future will be very very boring.

[azzuro2006]

Its never been in Sony's DNA to be open. For example, I opted to get a Canon HD camera over a Sony because of their insistence on using memory sticks instead of SD cards. Same technology but 3 times the price - no thanks. Its the right strategy to be more open, but they have already missed the boat - its a little late now. iTunes has critical mass.

I'm sure I posted there a few days ago, where is my post? Well here it is again...

Hindsight is a great thing, you can always look back as say how we could have done better. But it's totally pointless for Sony to moan about how they 'may' have beaten Apple. The fact is that Sony lacked the foresight to develop a product and to nurture an ecosystem which would catch the attention of the public. They just carried doing what every one else was doing, with no 'real' invocation, just occasion slightly 'cooler' exterior design. It's kind of typical (and sad) of all high-end manufacturing firms in the current era, unwilling to make any 'risky' but world changing decisions. Apple did and they changed the way people consume music, they also made quite a bit of money too. Without companies like Apple the future will be very very boring.

[Freeradical79]

"Apple has done a great job of marketing itself as an open source company, and getting its fan club to back them with it. In the end Apple beats Sony because the ppl that buy apple love the company for no other reason then its apple. They are fully devoted to it, and would never even blink to think about another possibility it will always be apple first."

What naive rubbish. Apple has never marketed itself as an open-source company, and the supposed fan-club appreciate the tight hardware/software integration of the products.

However, they are opposed to DRM. If in your family there are 2 iPods, a Sony and a Creative player, and one Dell laptop and an iMac... don't you think you're more likely to purchase DRM-free files from iTunes that will play on everything? And use the iPods which easily work with both the Dell and the iMac? Makes sense, doesn't it. Either way Apple gains something. Even if you stick with a Dell and a Creative, you can still purchase and play iTunes store tracks.

THAT is what consumers want. Apple and Amazon have been intelligent enough to realize the on-line shops that will succeed are those that don't force consumers to use limited hardware and devices due to DRM. Sony lost the plot years ago, they are a bit-player in portable music devices and continue to lag behind. Had they licensed ATRAC out for nix a decade ago they might have been the giants of the portable music industry right now.

[mlechman]

"In the end Apple beats Sony because the ppl that buy apple love the company for no other reason then its apple."

Not entirely correct. I've been using Apple products since 1983 and I'll tell you why I continue to rely on them for my daily nerding. Every Apple product I have used has stood the test of time beyond all other electronics I own. Every Apple product I have purchased since 1983 (that hasn't been dropped repeatedly from tall heights) is still working.
When Y2k came and went, Mac owners didn't worry because they had the only computers that were built to be used past the year 2000 and not be affected by the glitch. Other companies were short-sighted as their vision generally stopped at the all-mighty dollar instead of going the extra mile - and as a result they cut corners by using those two-digit year designations causing us no end of fun in 1999.
When Intel, Microsoft et. al. invented USB in 1994, not one person used it because no company would take the chance to nurture its consumer migration. Four years later Apple introduces the first iMac and says "hey, we're dropping all legacy ports and replacing them with this thing that's way better called USB. You'll thank us." And we did. Suddenly, the rest of the PC industry is scrambling to play catch up and starts adding USB ports on all of their machines because they saw what a success it was for Apple.
And then there's the iPod. When the first mp3 players started popping up in the late 1990s you could get a nice small player that held about 2 CDs worth of music, or you could buy a hard-drive based model that would sit on top of your stereo and hold about 5 gigs. Me and the rest of the world, couldn't have cared less about mp3 - and that was when we had Napster - the real Napster. So what does Apple do? They invent the first portable mp3 player that can hold your entire CD collection and fit in your pocket - that is to say: a product that people actually wanted but didn't even know it yet.
I could go on and on with stories like these, but basically, I stick with Apple because they're almost always ahead of the curve when the rest just follow suit. And when they're not inventing new technologies, they're vastly improving existing ones...which everyone else ends up copying in the end - don't believe me? Look at the Blackberry Storm, Windows 7, etc.
So, no, I don't buy Apple products because of the logo, I buy them because they are truly excellent products that I can really depend on. Sure, some of their stuff may cost a little more, but BMWs cost more than Hyundais for a very good reason. To paraphrase Steve Jobs "we don't know how to make a computer for $300 that we wouldn't be ashamed to sell to people."

[dream4game]

If Its A point of Sony Vs apple...........

1.Sony is the king of the hill when it comes to sound quality.

2.Apple I pods = Mp3 player - Bass = (high volume but no bass)

3.Apple is a software company ,so they can make better operating system for their products.

4.But what's the benefit if it doesn't sounds good.

5.Sony is the only company competing with not only the mp3 players market but also Camera, Gaming, Laptops, with good sound......in every product,so they are also competing with all the other camera ,gaming and laptop companies.

6.And Apple is a part of the competitors.

Hindsight is a great thing, you can always look back as say how we could have done better. But it's totally pointless for Sony to moan about how they 'may' have beaten Apple. The fact is that Sony lacked the foresight to develop a product and to nurture an ecosystem which would catch the attention of the public. They just carried doing what every one else was doing, with no 'real' invocation, just occasion slightly 'cooler' exterior design. It's kind of typical (and sad) of all high-end manufacturing firms in the current era, unwilling to make any 'risky' but world changing decisions. Apple did and they changed the way people consume music, they also made quite a bit of money too. Without companies like Apple the future will be very very boring.

[Mrnerd]

I realize that this comment comes well after the fact. I worked for Sony Music Entertainment for over 12 years, before I was laid off. I worked in an IT area that supported the Distribution Centers and warehouses primarily for Sony music products (i.e. CDs) and Playstation software. With the dismal future of CDs (the exception being the recent "blip" due to the death of Michael Jackson), the company had to downsize areas related to CD production and distribution.

In my twelve years with the company, not once was I able to see an ONLINE directory of all employees. I sometimes spent days just trying to find the correct contacts in the correct departments. In addition, and I kid you not, we did NOT have Sony computers on our desks. Sony monitors, yes, but Dell computers - because Sony Vaios were "too expensive". Ridiculous!

Howard Stringer, while a very nice individual, has not proven himself to be worthy of the CEO position. He invented a "branding device" - Sony United - for use within the company. Frankly, I have never worked for another company that was as closed and backward looking as Sony Music. I predict that the music division of Sony will be "absorbed" into Sony Corporation in the next 10 years - and no one will miss it!