Remember Beta-Max? How about UMD? Memory Stick? These were all formats that Sony invented and tried to foist upon us as standards. Sony likes to make something up and try to muscle its partners and competitors alike to follow suit. Usually, however, it doesn’t work.
It’s not all Sony’s fault, though. During the Reagan Administration, Sony was flying high on the success of its Walkman and patents for the upcoming and at the time revolutionary CD format. Those worked well. But, sadly, Sony doesn’t realize it’s not the ’80s anymore, and that it doesn’t have the clout (in innovation or marketing) that it once enjoyed.
Hence, we should all microwave some popcorn, get comfortable, and watch Blu-Ray die a slow, agonizing death. According to Cymfony (edit: Like “symphony” except spelled stupidly. – Blake), a marketing demographics and statistics group, HD-DVD has a more positive “buzz” than Sony’s Blu-Ray, because of the said string of failed formats, and because of arrogance on the part of company brass.
This is a symptom, however, of a much larger issue than we can truly address here, but we can start the discussion: Is Sony still a viable market force (given the last year as an example), or is it on its way to the graveyard of formerly great companies? Well, what do you think?
Blu-Ray Drowning in Negative Buzz: Report [ArsTechnica]