Comments on: Sony Out to Correct Mistakes?
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RE: All too typical of Japanese corps.
Non SD card formats, Non MP3 music formats, Beta Max (still smarting on that.Long time grudge) ....
Always going their own way.
I could bear it if they didn't make that amazing stuff that keeps turning my head!!! sigh. Good job i usually cant afford it.
PM.
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Palm Nirvana or bust!
RE: All too typical of Japanese corps.
Just make me a usable Clie that uses SD instead of Memory Schtick.
_________________
Sean
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
RE: All too typical of Japanese corps.
One mistake I hope he will correct is the nonsensical Qualia very-high-ticket line Sony has introduced. These aren't the 1980s, with people having money to "dispose" of on ego toys.
Wasn't Memory Stick on the market well before SD? You have to take into account that Sony is still seen as an "outsider" in Japan. It's main "foe" is Matsu****a, which would rather see *its* formats dominate (even if they are "me-too"). They would rather *never* have to license technology from Sony. Not Invented Here rules that company. And that company has the muscle to "convince" its fellow Japanese companies to license *its* tech over Sony's.
RE: All too typical of Japanese corps.
MP3 is every bit as proprietary as Sony's. And so are most (if not all) of the other things mentioned. The problem is, there are many different reasons for countries, companies and cultures to choose to standardize on a particular format (for their own ego, pride or economical benefits). If you want open format in music, fight for adoption of Ogg. iTunes/Quicktime/Windows Media formats are not any less proprietary. I don't see why people aren't complaining, but instead try to force other companies to adopt them (e.g. pockettunes) for the benefit of the likes of M$.
USB for example, is pretty much an Intel thing. Why not complain against it? Just because it comes from a big brother company that can force it down most people's throat shouldn't make it any better. Sony is too used to forcing things down people's throats (they are big in Japan, after all), so they are only doing the same here... too bad, they are not able to have better PR to smooth things over.
RE: All too typical of Japanese corps.
But wait when they are flogging a dead horse, why cant they realign themselves and embrace the more popular format along with everyone else or offer it as an alternative line?
The problem is that they never seem to give up with their own proprietary standards until they've suckered consumers into a fairly serious commitment, later leaving them high and dry as their proprietary standard/products disappear back to some corner of Japan.
Also it seems that they are never likely to be the ones to try and form a consortium or to promote an international standardised one. Instead it seems they much prefer to form a rival consortium under their control.Needless to say sharing technology is absolutely out of the question.
Why support MP3 and WMA formats that can only play on their digital players if they are first converted to their own preferred Attrac format with Sony tools? Why not go all the way and allow those formats to be played without this provision on at least some their players? It points to a grudging concession in my opinion and is typical Sony.
Previously they refused to entertain these rival formats in any way.
So no, i can't necessarily agree that they should not be criticised. I believe they could be far more cooperative with international consortiums. If they embraced more popular open/universally accepted standards(perhaps as alternative product lines). I believe their products would be even more desirable than they already are.
PM.
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Palm Nirvana or bust!
Hear Hear!
The TH55 is one bad mofo. It's a serious shame that development doesn't seem to be moving past the VZ90, which made even further strides toward PDA ultra-ness.
Compare them, or even the NZ series against what P1 is offering, and you'll see just how timid P1 is.
RE: Hear Hear!
An example of Ken Kutaragi
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The management meeting on June 24, 1992, was critical. The fate of the project would be decided at the meeting, which was chaired by Sony president Ohga. The situatIon seemed hopeless. Nearly everyone present argued that Sony should pull out of the games market. Kutaragi thought the situation had reached a critical juncture and said: "Having listened to what everyone is saying, I can see three options. First, to continue indefinitely with the traditional, Nintendo-compatible 16-bit game machines. Second, to sell game machines in a format proprietary to Sony. Third, to retreat from the market. I believe Sony should choose the second option of selling proprietary-format machines."
"What reasons do you have to justify pursuing that option?" Ohga demanded.
As if on cue, Kutaragi explained, "We've been secretly developing a new format using 3-D computer graphics separately from the Nintendo-compatible machine. Using this technology, we can produce astounding 3-D graphics that the Super Famicom can't hope to compete with."
"What scale of LSI Chip do you need?"
"In terms of gate arrays, about one million."
"What? A million gates?"
"We already have a basic design concept, though it's still at the architecture stage."
Suddenly, Ohga burst out laughing. Kutaragi had shaken Ohga's composure by citing a figure beyond his comprehension. "You're dreaming! A million gates is impossible! The best we could do is twenty to thirty thousand, a hundred thousand at most" Ohga's estimate was based on figures he had heard from Sony's semiconductor division. With Sony's capabilities at the time, the best LSI chip it could hope to build was one with 100,000 gates.
But having done his own research, Kutaragi knew that the figure of one million gates would soon be an achievable target in the industry. "lt's by no means impossible to integrate one million gates on an LSI chip. Unless we can do that, we can't produce three-dimensional computer graphics. Are you just going to sit back and accept what Nintendo did to us?" He appealed intensely and repeatedly to Ohga in this manner, provoking the Sony president. Finally, having reignited Ohga's rage against Nintendo and stirred up his emotions, Kutaragi demanded: "Please make a decision!"
Unable to control his fury, Ohga replied, "lf you really mean it, prove to me that it's possible." Then he formed a fist, pounded on the desk, and shouted: "DO IT!" [Revolutionaries at Sony: The Making of the Sony Playstation and the Visionaries Who Conquered the World of Video Games - Reiji Asakura; pgs. 36-37]
Another example of Ken Kutaragi
The Sony employees who joined the company at the same time as Kutaragi were all quirky individuals. Kutaragi soon found himself their leader, because of his role in bringing them together. "I was the rebel leader," he confesses. "From the company's point of view, I was at the top of their blacklist." [Revolutionaries at Sony: The Making of the Sony Playstation and the Visionaries Who Conquered the World of Video Games - Reiji Asakura; pg. 9]
More about Ken Kutaragi
That the PlayStahon business has been a tremendous financial boon for Sony Computer Entertalnment cannot be denied. Consolidated annual sales of over $7 billion in only its fourth year. Total worldwide shipments, as of September 1998, of 40 million units. The PlayStation has taken on the vast Nintendo kingdom and become the world's leading game platform, both in perception and reality. There is no example of a comparable business that has shown such phenomenal growth for four years after start-up.
Says Sony chairman Norio Ohga: "Sony Computer Entertainment delivers such superb results with astonishingly few employees. Sony itself has much to learn from this example." In fact, Sony Computer Entertainment's contribution to Sony's consolidated profits has reached 23 percent. It is no exaggeration, then, to say that the PlayStation business undergirds Sony's profitability. [Revolutionaries at Sony: The Making of the Sony Playstation and the Visionaries Who Conquered the World of Video Games - Reiji Asakura; prologue; pg. ix]
Why Ken Kutaragi *will* lead Sony
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
Myopia... from you?!
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
MikeCon - nice article about Kutaragi. The guy is an animal. Too bad none of the nitwits at PalmSource or PalmOne have 1/100 of this guy's business acumen. I mean, contrast that knucklehead Nagel against this guy. This Kutaragi has skill, guts, and vision - three things everyone at PalmSource/One lacks. To the victor goes the spoils!
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
Perhaps that's because my site doesn't have anything (directly) to do with PDAs. Why would I want to create a PDA website? That venue has been done to death.
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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
PalmSource can't afford to pay someone of his acumen when most of the company's profit goes to the head nitwit (Nagel).
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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
It all comes back to Benhamou who hired both Yankowski and Nagel.
Con - can you post a link to the full Kutaragi article?
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
The book is probably available at a public library or you can splurge for it:
It is well worth reading.
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
Revolutionaries at Sony: The Making of the Sony Playstation and the Visionaries Who Conquered the World of Video Games
EXCERPT
Chapter 1: The Passion
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
In another room, a few executives watched Carl Yankowski's interview on CNBC, taping it for playback at the employee meeting that was to commence in minutes. After CNBC announcers gushed over "the most talked-about IPO," the camera cut to Carl Yankowski in the Nasdaq studio. Usually a compelling public speaker, Yankowski seemed out of his element. When asked about larger screens for palmtops, he answered stiffly, "We are well positioned whichever way the market goes." As the interview came to a close, the reporter said, "I've got to ask you about your suit." Yankowski smiled. He was wearing a very special suit, he let on, designed to satisfy the public's high expectations from Palm's IPO. The shiny pinstripes woven into the otherwise standard wool suit were made from threads of pure gold. CNBC cut back to the studio anchor. "Was that for real?" he asked the correspondent. The Palm managers assembled around the TV set looked at each other. "We're not showing this video," one of the executives decreed. Then they walked out to start the employee meeting.
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
RE: An example of Ken Kutaragi
Hawkins is a figurehead only
His title is like an honorary doctorate degree universities give out to politicians. Hawkins is retired from the PDA world and spends his time with his hobby neuro"science" projects. He has as much influence on Palm's future projects as (the late) Henry Ford will have on Ford's 2010 lineup.
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
sony coming back to the PDA market???
The world will end in 2006. Just as it was predicted in the bible along with the release of Microsoft Longhorn.... :p
RE: sony coming back to the PDA market???
RE: sony coming back to the PDA market???
pen & paper -> m515 -> Zire72 -> TH55 & Handera 330
RE: sony coming back to the PDA market???
RE: sony coming back to the PDA market???
They already have, or haven't you heard? Sony is adding a web browser and email client to the PSP. Again, as I said...they are NOT coming back to the PDA market. This article makes no reference whatsoever to PDAs.
If Sony is trying to "Correct its mistakes", then returning to the PDA market would be a mistake. There is no money to be made in the PDA sector, and no one is investing in it. This is why everyone is looking for an escape strategy, searching for new revenue opportunities. Only Dell and HP are still pumping out new models "traditional" PDA models, but that's going to change dramatically this year. It's going to be interesting to see what the mobile device landscape looks like by the end of this year.
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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
RE: sony coming back to the PDA market???
Apple can learn from Palm's mistakes
It's too bad *palmOne* can't learn from their mistakes.
"Nonsense! An iceberg can't sink this ship!"
RE: Apple can learn from Palm's mistakes
They don't need to. As Bismark recommended, p1 have learned from the mistakes of others (especially, Sony).
Sony & Symbian
The Sony Ericsson division seems to be doing just fine with Symbian, although that platform hasn't caught on in the U.S. as much as other areas of the world.
So I'm not sure that Sony would bring back Palm OS based devices, especially since the market trend is towards smartphone and away from PDAs. I was a big fan of the Clie line but I think Sony made a sound business decision to drop it in the U.S. as the margins just aren't there anymore, especially with Dell in the PDA market now.
RE: Sony & Symbian
I think that the rapid release cycles also were harmful to them in the long run.
_________________
Sean
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.
RE: Sony & Symbian
I think that Sony left the PDA market outside of Japan for several reasons, but Dell's entry is probably not one of them.
Sony entered the notebook and desktop pc market in the U.S. depite Dell's entrenched presence.
RE: Sony & Symbian
RE: Sony & Symbian
Personally, my beef about Sony PDA's is not the card format, but those darn buttons. If they ever reintroduce a CLIE, then I care more that it has a 5-way navigator button.
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M100==>M500==>T|T==>T|T2==>TH55
RE: Sony & Symbian
Precisely.
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: Sony & Symbian
Oh come on! The SE p900 and 910 is WAY over priced crap! UIQ is the poorest interface to ever grace a smartphone. After 2 years they basically did nothing between the p800 and the p900 AND the 910s 'me too' pathetic keyboard is unusable! So popular for people to come to PIC just to slag p1 and PS - but the Treo has 10 time the usablility as any Sym ,bian drek! Sure the capability is there under the hood - you'd just never know it by the awful interfaces. My company gave me a p900 to use as my phone. I only use it as a phone after spending a few months exploring its god-awful PDA features. Even as a phone its awful - i cannot believe this thing retailed (still?) at $900 american! ick! Worse is that any free phone is better as a phone then this brick. As i said - i try not to use any pda features on this - but its smnartphone lineage gets in the way of just using the dumb thing as a phone. And better quality!??
RE: Sony vs. Symbian: Symbian gets its arse kicked...
- The Treo 600/650 has horrible construction quality.
- PalmOS in the Treos destroys Symbian (UIQ) in terms of useability, apps and syncing.
- The Sony Ericsson P800/900/910 are well constuucted phones.
What the market needs is a version of the Treo made by Sony Ericsson. We're sick of waiting for the Samsung VaporPhones™.
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
Wow Sony said "Enough is Enough!"
Do not let American lawyers and Hollywierd tell you how to develop your products. You were doing just fine before "those meddlesome kids" got involved. Hooray for the wake-up call in Japan!
Nokia 3650 bluetooth magnate
Is Sony *really* learning?
A group of top electronics manufacturers are joining forces to develop a standard for content management and protection, with an eye to providing specifications for the growing array of digital media hardware and distribution channels.
Founders of the Marlin Joint Development Association include Matsu****a Electric Industrial (Panasonic), Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sony and Intertrust Technologies.
Seeking Convergence
Specifications developed by the consortium would enable interoperability among consumer electronics vendors faced with competing digital rights management (DRM) standards for content distribution in the Internet, broadcast and mobile markets.
**** As proposed, Marlin-based devices would let consumers access and play licensed content on any device regardless of how they originally obtained that content. ****
-- notice that last para!
Sony PSP a success, web browser on the way
Hahahaha. Imagine the PSP having WiFi *before* a palmOne device! (Yes, I know there was the TC. BFD...)
RE: Is Sony *really* learning?
Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com
At least Sony, Handspring TRG, etc innovated. Palm did nada.
Pat, I'm surprised to hear you say that. In case you didn't know, Palm' s PDA lineup has LOST MONEY every year for the past three years. In fact, Palm has lost several hundred million $ from operation of their PDA division during that time. One of the biggest problems has been that Palm avoided innovating in their hardware design, arrogantly expecting consumers would keep paying top dollar for a cheap collection of parts just because it had the Palm name. By licensing the OS to Handspring, TRG and Sony, Palm made another colossal mistake, since - unlike Palm - these companies took chances, worked hard on innovating/pushing the envelope, and actually advanced the platform well beyond what Palm was willing to do. Palm's slick little clause giving it rights to any OS improvements created by licencees was a way to try and get others to do the work for them. Lazy. Once a company stops trying to innovate, they've written their death sentence. Had PPC been able to come up with a more intuitive UI three years ago, Palm (and Handspring + its Treo lineup) would probably already be dead or purchased at a firesale price by another company. Take current Treo sales out of the equation and see how healthy Palm's hardware sales are today. Palm is probably LOSING over $10 million per quarter on sales of non-Treo hardware. So much for the 1999-style strategy of maximizing profits by SLOWLY releasing incremental upgrades of cheap, ridiculously overpriced hardware to millions of consumers in a booming market. Palm's development "strategy" seems to have been predicated on the idea that the response to the Palm V/Vx was not an anomaly. Sorry, Preacherman - Palm is fcuked, and its wounds are almost all self-inflicted.
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
Fans Thinking of iPod More as Hand-Held Computer or PDA
Sony will kill PalmOS for youngsters with the PSP.
Meanwhile Apple has been, er, "switching" people from PalmOS in the older end.
RE: Fans Thinking of iPod More as Hand-Held Computer or PDA
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Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
RE: Fans Thinking of iPod More as Hand-Held Computer or PDA
youngsters with $500 to spend :)
the Sony PS2 / PSP target age range is 18 - 34 which presumeably is a similar to a slice of the PDA market if I'm following this train of thought.
Nintendo DS is more likely to challenge the teenage PDA sector (if it existed) whereas the Flash enabled Leapster has already taken the pre-teen market
In my opinion, there's still a big gap for an open system, i.e. one that's open to developers, for this market but not at the price point of the Tapwave or Gizmondo devices.
The Handheld Learning Forum
RE: Fans Thinking of iPod More as Hand-Held Computer or PDA
Not at the prices they were charging! And the procession of dimwits running the show -- they think "cool" comes from a freezer.
The latest equation today is: Do I buy a PDA or do I buy a Mac Mini FOR THE SAME FREAKING PRICE?
MikeCon Math: 1 + 1 = 0?
So is that latest bit of offal from CrApple a PDA? The latest equation today is: Do I buy a TV or do I buy a stereo FOR THE SAME FREAKING PRICE? Help me ObiWan Kenobi. You're my only hope...
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
Help me ObiWan Caneobi
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: Fans Thinking of iPod More as Hand-Held Computer or PDA
RE: Fans Thinking of iPod More as Hand-Held Computer or PDA
I'd certainly opt for a mac mini in every room :) but seriously why doesn't the mac mini have a bigger internal drive option like a terabyte so I can use it as a DVD iPod for my TV?
Back to PDA land however I just think we need a Zire 72 spec machine for $100 with some good entertainment and education apps (maybe wi-fi without sucking the battery) then we'd see lift-off in the teenage sector. Perhaps driven by the schools sector who can't afford to give every kid a laptop and need to bridge the digital divide.
The Sony PSP needs a facility for me to rip my DVDs and CDs onto it otherwise a decent handheld that has an embedded hard disc ala iPod get's my money.
RE: Fans Thinking of iPod More as Hand-Held Computer or PDA
Everyone wants that Mini as an HT hub, it seems:
Maybe rev B (in time for Xmas)?
Sony oppurtunity/profit-PalmOne competition-PalmOS survival
Sony has partnered with Ericson and employeed the Symbian OS successfully in Europe and Asia. However, the Symbian OS is not a player in North America. Mobile and Palm are the the North American players.
Sony has always been propertary and always will be and that is fine for better or worse. Sony specializes in product differientition and has an entire buisness model built on it. So to capatilize on that they need to build US market share in the smartphone sector with a proven winner- THE PALM OS. And dominate US market share while at the same time building international market share with the sony ericson partnership.
Sony could build a North American TREO killer that would be good for all of us consumers and force PALM ONE to do what they are not doing.
RE: Sony oppurtunity/profit-PalmOne competition-PalmOS survival
RE: Sony oppurtunity/profit-PalmOne competition-PalmOS survival
RE: Sony oppurtunity/profit-PalmOne competition-PalmOS survi
Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com
The first step is to play well with others
Dump the obnoxious proprietary media formats and DRM and start being compatible with everybody else.
Technology companies like Sony suffer when they forget that content should serve the devices, not the other way around.
Sony Luddites^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H Entertainment, IMNSHO, is directly responsible for handing the portable stereo market over to Apple because of their insistence that every new device implement the worst in proprietary DRM, user experience and media format before allowing it out the door.
The experience people have with other Sony devices trickles down on to other product lines and contributed in some part to the market failure of the Clie'.
If they can start treating people like customers instead of thieves, THEN people might start buying their products again and THEN we can talk about products like the Clie' and its descendants coming back to the US market.
Good point.
You might be interested in Cory Doctorow's boingboing.net, if you don't read it already.
1000->Personal->IRUpgrade->TRGPro->HE330->Treo 180
Mike Cane: AWESOME post!!!!!!! Thanks for the info!
Mike will you now finally end your Dungsten E misery and buy a TH55 before it's too late?
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: CLIE fans: Landscape is in the house in full effect
We've seen your "work" (below). Ryan doesn't need that kind of, uh, "help."
TH55: Great PDA killed by its lack of real stylus.
RE: CLIE fans: Landscape is in the house in full effect
As always, TamsPalm rings the bell and already has cvoverage of this story since 13.00 vienniese time.
Tune in at TamsPalm!
Best Regards
Tam Hanna
Find out more about the Palm OS in my blog:
http://tamspalm.blogspot.com
CLIE TH55: the best traditional PDA ever made. Wake up, Cane
As if your last brilliant "article" (that pathetic, incoherent rant about PalmLinux being simply a "skin" and Palm porting the Palm PIM apps to PPC) wasn't enoughto prove you've stopped taking your medications, now here's another Mike Cane Special.
For years readers at PIC - and every other Palm site on the Internet, it seems - have heard you biitching and moaning about every PDA released, and you've continually come up with the most laughable "faults" imagineable. The TH55 is well constructed, light, thin, looks great and has: a great high res screen + built in digital camera/video camera + a stable version of PalmOS 5 + flipcover + built in Wi-Fi + available built in Bluetooth + voice recorder + fair price + MP3/ATRAC player + durable case. But you think it's KILLED BY ITS LACK OF REAL STYLUS???
Excuse us while - once again - everyone reading here collectively laughs in your face. Your credibility is ZERO, Mike. Don't hold your breath waiting for a better PalmOS PDA to show up any time soon (or ever). On second thought, do hold your breath. Please.
Have a nice day, Mike. And remember what your doctor told you would happen if you stopped taking your medications...
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
More TH55 creamy goodness
Don't choke on your shoe, Mike.
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: CLIE fans: Landscape is in the house in full effect
While the stylus is admittedly horrible, letting that get in the way of enjoying a fine PDA like the TH55 would be a shame.
http://www.styluscentral.com/sanphdmulpen.html
Landscape on the TH and others would be a dream come true, that's for sure, but as discussed the performace hit might be significant.
It's certainly the buzz where Clie owners discuss Clies.
I'll call it guarded optimism for now.
Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
©The Voice of Reason, Inc. MikeCon Division.
Sony made the best PDA designs of any manufacturer. (Exhibit 1: UX50, TH55, VZ90). Traditional PDAs were a dead end, and Sony spent 4 years and a few hundred million $ trying to find the right mix of features to take PDAs to the next level. They came tantalizingly close to the perfect portable device for adults in 2004 and could have brought out the perfect PDA in 2005. Microlaptop/MP3 player/digital camera/camcorder/PIM/video player/web browser. After 8 years of compromises, PDA nirvana was finally within our grasp.But then time ran out. Sony's CLIE group was just about six months too slow in their frenetic production schedule to save the PDA market. At least CLIEs will become collectors items pretty soon when the market finishes imploding (or will it?) by the end of 2005.
PSP is the new golden child. It will have email + web capability, but remember, even Gameboy had PIM ability with the right software. Gameboy was no Palm. PSP will never come close to doing what CLIE did or could have done. Pulling the plug on CLIE at this point makes little sense for Sony for several reasons:
First of all, they've already done all the R + D and figured out the right form factors, etc. From now on, all Sony would need to do is "pull a Palm" - i.e. offer a series of incremental upgrades. Adding the latest screen,better camera, more memory with subsequent revisions wouldn't cotst Sony much in terms of engineering resources.
Secondly, Sony has now established itself as the leader among PDA manufacturers. Best quality, best features, best designs. People who know PDAs choose Sony™. Sony's market share would only continue to improve (at Palm's expense) now that Palm's quality has reached rock bottom. Sony would become "the only game in town".
Thirdly, PSP and CLIE appeal to different market segments. CLIE users tend to have a fair amount of disposeable income and bringing them into the Sony fold would lead to sales of a lot more Sony hardware. People impressed by the slickness and build quality of CLIEs are probably a he!! of a lot more likely to feel inclined to shop Sony when getting TVs, laptops, stereos, etc. The spinoff sales might even be more valuable than the actual profits from CLIE sales. (Think of CLIEs as a loss leader used to generate brand loyalty.)
Fourthly CLIE sales help entrench Memory Stick as a major memory format. And once consumers have invested in a few Memory Sticks, they'll be more likely to buy other electronics (e.g. digital cameras) using the same format. Since it's mainly Sony that is selling equipment using Memory Stick, this would further add to their profits. I know firsthand that this strategy works - I've purchased a ton of CLIEs in recent years and initially hated Memory Stick. (Slower/more expensive/less functional than CompactFlash.) But in reality, as a data storage format it doesn't matter that much which one (CF, MS, SD) I use. So now that I already have a bunch of Memory Sticks, when I recently was looking at getting a digital camera, Sonys were strongly considered largely because of compatibility between devices.
Fifthly, (is that even a word?) abandoning the CLIE market would alienate a lot of potential Sony customers. How many pi$$ed off owners of abandonware CLIEs will avoid all Sony products in the future, strictly on principle?. It happened before with Sony's Beta VCRs. Better technology and construction than VHS competitors, killed by Sony's ineptitude in getting users easy access tothe media they needed to make use of their superior hardware. Sony has also annoyed a lot of people with its Draconian DRM/copy protection schemes. (Eventually Sony must understand that the genie is out of the bottle. Open formats like MP3 won, and failure to embrace these formats means giving up entire market segments. Exhibit 2: Apple's ridiculously overpriced, Zen of Palm-like, incrementally-upgraded (again, ominously Palm-like) iPod kickng the sh!te out of better constructed Sony offerings. Any company capable of producing the likes of the UX50 and the VZ90 should be able to blow the iPod out of the water without even trying.)
Sixthly, Sony Ericsson + PalmOS is a natural. With Nokia now dominating Symbian, a couple PalmOS phones from Sony Ericsson are long overdue, would deal a serious body blow to Nokia, would be HUGE sellers and would cost next-to-nothing to implement (the hardware and software are "off the shelf" parts).
The die is cast, but it's not too late for Sony to mold a new plan. 2005 will decide the fate of both PalmOS and PDAs in general. Any bets on how this will all turn out?
TVoR ©2005.
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
Firstly, thanks for the lack of paragraph breaks. It makes it that much easier for everyone to stop reading.
Secondly, Apple is Palm-like?! Get your chronology straight! Palm files are as they are because Hawkins based their structure on the MACINTOSH. You have obviously never read the Pogue book.
Thirdly, "Sony has now established itself as the leader among PDA manufacturers." Yeah. Right. hp and Dell simply don't exist in your sad fantasy world.
Fourthly, keep your day job (if you have one).
Fifthly, where's the Cobalt: Expose! article?
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
2) Apple is Palm-like in terms of them lucking into a great idea (iPod) at the right time, failing to do much with it so far beyond incremental updates, and gouging users on the cheap Made in China hardware. Once other manufacturers figure it out, they'll kill Apple the way Palm is getting killed now. Sony could have done this by now if only their content division hadn't handicapped their hardware division with DRM (copyright) restrictions that most consumers find offensive. Apple in 2005 is only about style and marketing. They're as much of a computer company as Dior, Armani or Ralph Lauren. By now, only the dullest of the Mac Fanatics fails to realize this. Apple sells averpriced hardware with nice industrial design to conformist nerds that like to fantacize that they're really rebels. Apple's ads effectively play up this bogus image and the Fanatics will probably keep the company alive for years after the iPod fad has faded. I think the company has shot its wad, though. Lean times are ahead once the bubble bursts. American (Dell, HP), Japanese (Sony, Matsu$hita), Korean (Samsung) and Chinese manufacturers will be cloning and undercutting Apple's design ideas from now on faster than you can say $10 "Rolex" The iPod lesson has been duly noted by all..
Still having problems finding store selling apps to use on your Tangerine iMac, Mike?
"Friends don't let friends use Macs™"
3) YOU obviously have no real world experience using the Sony UX50/TH55/VZ90 and the new Dell and HP models. Once again your ignorance is showing, Mike. You wouldn't look so bad if you didn't come across as such a total dumba$$ every time you shove your foot even further down your throat.
4) Yes, I have a day job. How's your job at the newspaper stand, Mike? That IS what you do in New York, isn't it?
5)As I said (twice) before: I will not be commenting further publicly about Cobalt. Your puerile taunts aren't going to change that. I think you should hang onto your monochrome CLIE S320 and wait for that perfect Cobalt PDA, Mike. Or better yet, wait for a Perfect PalmLinux PDA (PPP). Buy a vowel and get on the Clue Train, Cane. Eventually you'll figure things out...
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
Mike - you are a fool.
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm..
Then we'd have another ET on our hands, wouldn't we? ;)
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
(Ryan is most likely ROTFLHAO after reading you think Gekko and me are the same person.)
RE: Sony, PalmOS, Playstation (PSP) and SonyEricsson. Hmmm...
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
ATTN: Ken Kutaragi
And yeah, I know he has nothing to do with that division.
But what the hell.
http://www.oqo.com -- please make a unit like this. Maybe in conjunction with Apple, running OS X?
Arigato.
RE: ATTN: Ken Kutaragi
*sigh* .. this is really just what I want. Any chance of putting Linux on it though ? Also a > 1 Mpixel camera too that did decent video as well as stills. I'd be happy to keep the existing "bliss" wallpaper.
--
If you can't do it mobile, it's not real computing !
Too bad they can't repair my laptop ...
Thanks, robrecht
Sony needs to return back to the US PDA Market
Powered by Palm OS since March 2002
RE: Sony needs to return back to the US PDA Market
-------------------------------
Editor, http://Pocketfactory.com
Contributing Editor, http://digitalmediathoughts.com
Sony needs to get their a$$ back into the PalmOS market ASAP
http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20041231/index.html
Sony reinvented the wheel with every CLIE release, only to throw it all away just when they started to get things right.
They could have blown everyone away with this PalmOS lineup in 2005:
1) UX100 - OLED screen, UX form factor, 128 MB RAM
2) VZ90 - as is
3) TH75 - native landscape + portrait mode support, 64 MB RAM, 1 megapixel camera, second generation CLIE Organizer apps
4) Sony Ericsson S710a-based smartphone
5) Sony Ericsson P910-based smartphone
Sony could have easily captured 1/3 of the Palm PDA market + ended up selling over 2 million PalmOS smartphones/year with such a lineup. Not too shabby for almost ZERO investment in development. Will they come back? Not unless they're smart enough to admit when they've made a HUGE mistake. Given Sony's history, that means probably not.
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: Sony needs to return back to the US PDA Market
Dump your StinkPad. If you love Sony so much, you'd go get the great U series.
It has a rotten stylus too (fish scale/fish fin). (WTF is it with Sony and styli?!!?)
RE: Sony needs to return back to the US PDA Market
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: Sony needs to return back to the US PDA Market
It has a rotten stylus too (fish scale/fish fin). (WTF is it with Sony and styli?!!?)
Well after seeing most ThinkPads are now being made in China, I expect the quality to plummet this year.
Sony's VAIO® laptops have historically looked good but have been exceptionally horrible in quality. I wouldn't touch a Sony laptop with a ten foot pole. I'll stick with a Japanese or Taiwanese company for my future laptops if IBM's quality nosedives. Maybe Fujitsu. Thanks for nothing, IBM...
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
RE: Sony needs to return back to the US PDA Market
Check out the U. It is damned nice.
RE: Sony needs to return back to the US PDA Market
No keyboard, no go. The ideal portable is a slightly bigger-screened, better-buttoned version of the UX50. And the IBM X40 is about as small as a useful main computer can get. At least the final three CLIEs released were all reliable.
The Vaio U series is an experiment in progress, much like all the previous CLIEs were. The U series have UI issues and are fragile, but the line does shows the way of the future.
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Sony CLIE UX100: 128 MB real RAM, OLED screen. All the PDA anyone really ever wanted.
According to Gekko, Microsoft is doomed too
============
Q [Business Week]: What can we learn from Apple's struggle to innovate during the decade before you returned in 1997?
A [Steve Jobs]: You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together. Otherwise, you can get great pieces of technology all floating around the universe. But it doesn't add up to much. That's what was missing at Apple for a while. There were bits and pieces of interesting things floating around, but not that gravitational pull.
People always ask me why did Apple really fail for those years, and it's easy to blame it on certain people or personalities. Certainly, there was some of that. But there's a far more insightful way to think about it. Apple had a monopoly on the graphical user interface for almost 10 years. That's a long time. And how are monopolies lost? Think about it. Some very good product people invent some very good products, and the company achieves a monopoly.
But after that, the product people aren't the ones that drive the company forward anymore. It's the marketing guys or the ones who expand the business into Latin America or whatever. Because what's the point of focusing on making the product even better when the only company you can take business from is yourself?
So a different group of people start to move up. And who usually ends up running the show? The sales guy. John Akers at IBM (IBM ) is the consummate example. Then one day, the monopoly expires for whatever reason. But by then the best product people have left, or they're no longer listened to. And so the company goes through this tumultuous time, and it either survives or it doesn't.
Q: Is this common in the industry?
A: Look at Microsoft (MSFT ) -- who's running Microsoft?
Q: Steve Ballmer.
A: Right, the sales guy. Case closed. And that's what happened at Apple, as well.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2004/nf20041012_4018_db083.htm
Why do I suddenly feel this great affection for Steve Ballmer?
RE: According to Gekko, Microsoft is doomed too
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/index.php?e=ballmerwindows.wmv
-- requires WMP (of course, duuhhhhh).
Thoughts on Sony from an ex-user
My TJ37 didn't have bluetooth on it, which is pretty much a must have for me now. (Yes, I know I could have got a Clie with Bluetooth but 1 - They're hard to find in shops and 2 - at $99 for a brand new TJ37 are you going to sit there and ponder over it???) When told how much a Bluetooth Memory module was - £120 (I think it works out at at least $220) with no guarantee that it would work, it got me wondering about other Clie accessories. The plug in camera and WiFi Memory Stick were similarly overpriced for what they were as were the Memory Sticks themselves (you can get a 1Gb SD card for the price of a 512Mb MS).
The other accessory problem came with the army of different PDA series that Sony did - T,TJ,TG,SJ......the list goes on.
In conclusion - Sony would be welcome back as a Palm PDA provided they STUCK TO ONE SERIES, kept an eye on the limited competition's prices and adjusted to suit and finally (although this is me dreaming) swapped to an SD card system.
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All too typical of Japanese corps.
I was really surprised to see Sony license the Palm OS as soon as it did. Frankly, the revenue loss to the iPod is giving Sony's marketing and product planning the spanking it needed since the MP3 standard was published.
Think of it, an American electronics company hit the traditional Japanese overseas consumer electronics items since the advent of the Walkman-style personal stereo units.
Them times are a changing.