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How Sony failed to Connect, again
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Kinoma Chief Executive Peter Hoddie, an Apple Computer alumnus, had been put in charge of high-profile Sony software development, including the Connect digital music project. For a company historically averse to using outside technology, this was a significant step.
For more than two hours, the group met in the futon-lined public area of Kinoma's offices. According to attendees, Hoddie gave a sales pitch, but not much more. When asked for details on the technology they'd be using for Connect, Hoddie declined to provide them, and the meeting turned contentious before breaking up, employees said.
Programmers went to work on the project, intended to be Sony's answer to Apple's iTunes. But the tone had been set for a dysfunctional mix of politics, programming and pique that would prove deeply destructive to Sony's digital music ambitions. Fourteen months later, a disastrous product launch doomed Sony's latest attempt to catch Apple.
"There were a lot of problems with Connect, but there were some things that could have gone right," said one Sony employee familiar with the project's history, who like most of the insiders interviewed for this story, asked to remain anonymous. "The software was on a trajectory to be OK. But that got wiped out."
The effects continue to resonate inside Sony. On Tuesday, CEO Howard Stringer informed the company that Phil Wiser, a Connect champion inside Sony and chief technology officer for Sony Corp. of America, would be leaving effective Friday, sources close to the company said.
Wiser is leaving to join a Silicon Valley-based digital home entertainment firm called Building B, according to a source familiar with his plans. The Connect division is being taken over by Steve Bernstein, a Sony senior vice president who previously oversaw the company's Media Software group.
A Sony representative declined to comment for this story, or to provide Sony executives to discuss the company's music business. Hoddie also declined comment.
The effort to reel in iTunes opened the door to Sony's ultimately unsuccessful flirtation with another company's technology--a relationship that's continued in Kinoma's oversight of Sony's highly touted eBook project.
Why did the electronics giant turn so uncharacteristically to an outsider for technology so critical to its future?
Past and present insiders at Sony say Apple's meteoric rise in music has left top Sony executives with both respect and envy for Apple's products, even while they resist becoming dependent on Microsoft's digital music technology.
Kinoma and Hoddie appealed to their envy of Apple and their aversion to Microsoft.
From QuickTime's creation to Sony's secret weapon
Hoddie is far from a household name. But he's well known in digital media circles.
Before striking out on his own, Hoddie spent 10 years at Apple, serving as team leader and chief architect of the company's early QuickTime multimedia software project. People who worked at Apple during that time say much of the early code was Hoddie's, and in the days before it was ported to the Windows platform in 1994, he was one of the only people at Apple to have a full picture of the software's code base.
"He was an absolutely brilliant individual, and one of the great treasures of Apple," said Jonathan Hirshon, a technology marketing consultant who served as a technology evangelist on Apple's QuickTime team.
See more CNET content tagged:
Kinoma Inc., digital music, digital media, Sony Corp., electronics company
119 comments
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Apple's foray into video is limited because they are not owners of the content. They are limited to brokering deals. Sony owns content and could start distributing it however they please and foster consumer demand. This applies to VoD, rental, and broadcast with consumer acceptable digital rights. Others would fall in line.
Add to this transfer capabilities to PSP, possible TiVo software on the PS3, and you have a real competitive offering.
I'm trying to figure out how you could have come up with such a comment when everything else goes against it. Apple doesn't own the music on iTunes, so why isn't their foray limited? Sony owns a record label, yet their foray in music limited.
Apple's foray in video is limited because they make it so. They are testing the waters. Has nothing to do with not owning the content.
Apple's foray into video is limited because they are not owners of the content. They are limited to brokering deals. Sony owns content and could start distributing it however they please and foster consumer demand. This applies to VoD, rental, and broadcast with consumer acceptable digital rights. Others would fall in line.
Add to this transfer capabilities to PSP, possible TiVo software on the PS3, and you have a real competitive offering.
I'm trying to figure out how you could have come up with such a comment when everything else goes against it. Apple doesn't own the music on iTunes, so why isn't their foray limited? Sony owns a record label, yet their foray in music limited.
Apple's foray in video is limited because they make it so. They are testing the waters. Has nothing to do with not owning the content.
Imagine, music fans LOVE their artists and also LOVE the publisher. Now that is science fiction if I ever heard it. Hey, maybe Pixar could make a movie. Have to be animation though cause no one living would dare appear in it for fear of ...
Rant off.
Imagine, music fans LOVE their artists and also LOVE the publisher. Now that is science fiction if I ever heard it. Hey, maybe Pixar could make a movie. Have to be animation though cause no one living would dare appear in it for fear of ...
Rant off.
Kinoma's stuff was proprietary was Sony's complaint? Or a
complaint projected by the author of this article?
Sony doesn't seem to be a strong fan of open standards like
XML. Nearly every device it makes uses some proprietary
technology. Atrac, AVC, UMD discs, minidiscs.
Of course not all worked out fine, that's the risk you have if you dare to be a trendsetter rather as a follower, but in some cases this was fair, in other cases not. People like to make fun about ATRAC, but as a Sony Walkman owner I can use both ATRAC as MP3 on my PC using the sony soft and I can ensure you the quality of the ATRAC songs is superiour to MP3. It's not because MP3 has become popular since you can copy freely without wondering about legal aspects that the quality is good. I hear nobody complaining about Apple's non-proprietary format called i-Tunes, which is far more restrictive than Sony's one for instance.
UMD is to be used for PSP only, I don't hear anybody complain they have to use cartridges in their nintendo's so what's the point ? Would a full sized DVD have been a better approach ... nah, guess not...
What XML has to do in your list is a bit strange to me by the way...
Kinoma's stuff was proprietary was Sony's complaint? Or a
complaint projected by the author of this article?
Sony doesn't seem to be a strong fan of open standards like
XML. Nearly every device it makes uses some proprietary
technology. Atrac, AVC, UMD discs, minidiscs.
Of course not all worked out fine, that's the risk you have if you dare to be a trendsetter rather as a follower, but in some cases this was fair, in other cases not. People like to make fun about ATRAC, but as a Sony Walkman owner I can use both ATRAC as MP3 on my PC using the sony soft and I can ensure you the quality of the ATRAC songs is superiour to MP3. It's not because MP3 has become popular since you can copy freely without wondering about legal aspects that the quality is good. I hear nobody complaining about Apple's non-proprietary format called i-Tunes, which is far more restrictive than Sony's one for instance.
UMD is to be used for PSP only, I don't hear anybody complain they have to use cartridges in their nintendo's so what's the point ? Would a full sized DVD have been a better approach ... nah, guess not...
What XML has to do in your list is a bit strange to me by the way...
Obviously the "how are we going to make an iTunes for books" problem is (as this article helpfully describes) the real crux of the issue. And also obviously Sony can't seem to find the answer to that question.
The funny thing is that I (and I suspect a huge portion of the potential ebook market) couldn't care less when/if they get their iTunesForBooks equivalent done. I want to buy the reader right now simply to display my own reference content on. I have basically no interest in buying a DRM "a la carte" copy of a Grisham novel, etc. anyway.
So the irony is that potential customers like me can't buy the hardware because the store isn't ready yet.
Hopefully Apple will come into this and just take the whole market overnight. They really should. If Apple licensed the eInk screen, made a reader and then added a books section to Itunes, they'd own the game instantly. I find it strange that they haven't wanted to get into this.
Obviously the "how are we going to make an iTunes for books" problem is (as this article helpfully describes) the real crux of the issue. And also obviously Sony can't seem to find the answer to that question.
The funny thing is that I (and I suspect a huge portion of the potential ebook market) couldn't care less when/if they get their iTunesForBooks equivalent done. I want to buy the reader right now simply to display my own reference content on. I have basically no interest in buying a DRM "a la carte" copy of a Grisham novel, etc. anyway.
So the irony is that potential customers like me can't buy the hardware because the store isn't ready yet.
Hopefully Apple will come into this and just take the whole market overnight. They really should. If Apple licensed the eInk screen, made a reader and then added a books section to Itunes, they'd own the game instantly. I find it strange that they haven't wanted to get into this.
FAIL SONY FAIL!
1. Get out of the content business. Focus on what they were good at in the past: hardware (and they'll need to develop the talent to create great software to run that hardware).
2. Forget about locking in their customers. Sell the best solution and they won't have to force consumers to continue to use their products. It should be company policy that anyone using the word "proprietary" as a positive feature of a Sony product should be counseled the first time, then fired for the second offense.
mark d.
FAIL SONY FAIL!
1. Get out of the content business. Focus on what they were good at in the past: hardware (and they'll need to develop the talent to create great software to run that hardware).
2. Forget about locking in their customers. Sell the best solution and they won't have to force consumers to continue to use their products. It should be company policy that anyone using the word "proprietary" as a positive feature of a Sony product should be counseled the first time, then fired for the second offense.
mark d.
headmaster...
Ditch VAIO's and walkmans, maker their TV's, DVD's run Mac OS
X... Let them be designed by Jonathan Ive and his team...
work across groups. At Apple that seems to be easy and that's
why their products are pretty much well connected. If they
merge, it really wouldn't help Apple which is quite nimble lately.
Apart from that Steve Jobs may have done some good things lately with Apple, but older people amongst us migth still remember the terible shape of the company when he left it during his previous live as CEO of Apple...
headmaster...
Ditch VAIO's and walkmans, maker their TV's, DVD's run Mac OS
X... Let them be designed by Jonathan Ive and his team...
work across groups. At Apple that seems to be easy and that's
why their products are pretty much well connected. If they
merge, it really wouldn't help Apple which is quite nimble lately.
Apart from that Steve Jobs may have done some good things lately with Apple, but older people amongst us migth still remember the terible shape of the company when he left it during his previous live as CEO of Apple...
But I do not applaud iTunes and iPod. I believe that the DRM battle between Sony, Microsoft, Apple and a few others to set up a proprietary standard is wrong for the market. Open standards should be the norm, or at least stick with actual standards (MP3, MPEG).
Sony wants to stick with FSK? Then no wonder if they go again into the wall.
It is time to revise a misconception: the classical sales model for content is past. The success of Apple is not from iTunes but the fact that you can play MP3 tunes on your iPod.
iTunes is marketing. The big money comes from hardware at Apple - ask Samsung which has lost the compression chip manufacturing contract.
Sony has to innovate by:
> selling its music business
> champion open standards
> design and manufacture good hardware
In a word: PSX, Mobile phones (SonyEricsson), MP3 players and possibly laptops.
As a related story, I suggest to read my post about Quaero to be published on the www.360journal.com which examines a related issue - searching multimedia contents in a DRM world.
But I do not applaud iTunes and iPod. I believe that the DRM battle between Sony, Microsoft, Apple and a few others to set up a proprietary standard is wrong for the market. Open standards should be the norm, or at least stick with actual standards (MP3, MPEG).
Sony wants to stick with FSK? Then no wonder if they go again into the wall.
It is time to revise a misconception: the classical sales model for content is past. The success of Apple is not from iTunes but the fact that you can play MP3 tunes on your iPod.
iTunes is marketing. The big money comes from hardware at Apple - ask Samsung which has lost the compression chip manufacturing contract.
Sony has to innovate by:
> selling its music business
> champion open standards
> design and manufacture good hardware
In a word: PSX, Mobile phones (SonyEricsson), MP3 players and possibly laptops.
As a related story, I suggest to read my post about Quaero to be published on the www.360journal.com which examines a related issue - searching multimedia contents in a DRM world.
I'd say that Peter Hoddie is still working for Apple!
I'd say that Peter Hoddie is still working for Apple!
All MP3 manufacturers are dying to kill Apple's domination of the market. But, they keep releasing product after product without any proper planning. Sure Apple spends a fortune on marketing. But, they only have a limited number of products "iPod, iPod Shuffle (which it seems to be on they way out, and iPod Nano. That's it. These products evolve and are phased out or replaced with better products as the technology progresses. That's it. No, "20 or 25 different products released annually."
Simple. Produce a limited amount of items, support and develop them. Connect could have a chance as long as they orchestrate their strategy smartly.
But, if Sony continues this failing strategy, they don't stand a chance.
All MP3 manufacturers are dying to kill Apple's domination of the market. But, they keep releasing product after product without any proper planning. Sure Apple spends a fortune on marketing. But, they only have a limited number of products "iPod, iPod Shuffle (which it seems to be on they way out, and iPod Nano. That's it. These products evolve and are phased out or replaced with better products as the technology progresses. That's it. No, "20 or 25 different products released annually."
Simple. Produce a limited amount of items, support and develop them. Connect could have a chance as long as they orchestrate their strategy smartly.
But, if Sony continues this failing strategy, they don't stand a chance.
The next (and only other, in my opinion) reason for iTunes/iPod success is and always has been Apple's forte: User Interfaces. Apple seems to know exactly what the user wants in an interface and goes right for it. The styling and UI of the iPod, together with the timeliness of iTunes, all together in an easy to use, relatively inexpensive package is the equation the equalled Apple's huge hit. You can possibly better the UI, but you can't catch Apple.
Wise up, Sony. The moment has passed.
The next (and only other, in my opinion) reason for iTunes/iPod success is and always has been Apple's forte: User Interfaces. Apple seems to know exactly what the user wants in an interface and goes right for it. The styling and UI of the iPod, together with the timeliness of iTunes, all together in an easy to use, relatively inexpensive package is the equation the equalled Apple's huge hit. You can possibly better the UI, but you can't catch Apple.
Wise up, Sony. The moment has passed.
They got such big heads over the CD triumph and ever since have been trying to invent the next new standard that the world will license. It aint gonna happen. And it certainly aint gonna happen by foistering proprietary technology on the world simply for the sake of being unique: (see examples listed in other posts such as memory stick, etc.)
Consumers have no interest in rebuying solutions to technology issues that have already been solved by other providers unless the solutions offer substantial and unprecedented advantage to them... what does the memory stick offer than other flash media does not? Nothing.
Add to that the huge decline in hardware quality in the past 10 years, add to that the huge mis-step with the rootkit, add to that the desire to control consumers instead of free them (the minidisc was a good idea, just ill-timed and not promoted correctly - atrac is just a horrible idea aimed at locking consumers into Sonyland)...
It all adds up to the same problem facing corporations the world over: consumers aren't interested in boosting your bottom line. If you aren't providing a service to them, one that they actually want, they have no incentive to support you at all. You are not ENTITLED to profits, you have to earn them.
I was the biggest Sony fanboy... now I'm a hater. I've been used, betrayed, taken advantage of, and the only reason I wasn't assaulted by the rootkit offensive is that I had already given up buying CDs. Meanwhile all my old Sony hardware is slowly being replaced by non-Sony alternatives, which represents a real financial loss to Sony.