Comments on: Sony: Laugh or Cry?

By: Matthew

Matthew — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:27:58 +0000

Well it’s not supposed to be a rant you ungrateful Scottish bastard. It’s supposed to be informative news reporting. With, erm, some bonus abuse thrown in for free.

God dammit!

By: The Daily Growl

The Daily Growl — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:14:36 +0000

Ah Toad, maybe not one of your strongest rants, but a good one all the same. And as Homer Simpson would say – it’s funny because it’s true…

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:26:38 +0000

I think that the CD, which was proprietary Sony technology up until very recently (I think – or very soon) has been such a cash cow for them that they are desperately looking to snag the next one. I am sure that with ATRAC, which was a very superior format for music files, they were clinging to some vain hope of replacing the mp3 file.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:09:52 +0000

I would like to add to the point made about Sony’s idiot marketing department.

I own one of Sony’s excellent-in-every-way-but-one digital cameras. It’s everything we’ve come to expect of a Sony device: solid of build, stylish to look at, pleasing in the hand, quality components, simple and intuitive interface. And it takes great snaps; wonderful skies.

However, if anyone can explain to me why Sony’s stubborn-arsed marketing department decided not to equip it with a standard USB connection, I would appreciate it.

The lead to connect the camera to a computer has the usual, larger universal USB plug at the computer’s end of the cable, but instead of the smaller USB plug one would expect to see at the device end, the lead splits off into a couple of phono-type plugs and s shonky-looking , cheap’n'nasty-feeling bespoke connector for data-transfer. It doesn’t even charge through that port – you have to plug it into a separate power adapter.

Why they can’t just use the same proven, existing, universal technology as every other electronics brand bemuses me. I expect they’re trying to create an environment of brand loyalty amongst an imaginary set of brand-loyal customers. They expect that once a consumer invests in one Sony device, then they will get everything else Sony so it’s all compatible. However, they’ve completely missed the point that people simply don’t shop like that. Who on earth did their market research?!

By: Matthew

Matthew — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:29:21 +0000

C&B, Song by Toad records is indeed on the way, but it will be more of an enhanced demo project than anything that you could call a proper record label. Should be a fun project though.

Thanks Davy, actually I appreciate the rare influx of genuine knowledge. If I’m entirely honest I just flung the song up there because I was sure I had a more acoustic version of Idiot Wind somewhere, although I confess I didn’t really look into where it came from.

By: DavyH

DavyH — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 22:56:46 +0000

That Bob Dylan’s not an ‘early acoustic demo’ but the original official New York sessions recording for Blood On The Tracks. Unhappy with it, he re-recorded it and a few other songs from the session later in Minneapolis, though other NYC tracks went through to the final album.

I don’t rightly know why I’ve posted such a tedious and pedantic comment as this on your lovely blog, though I accept it may be because I am tedious and pedantic.

And also, I clicked on it thinking it was an ‘early acoustic demo’ only to be as let down as a let down thing can be.

This is my problem, not yours.

By: Campfires & Battlefields

Campfires & Battlefields — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:55:37 +0000

Ah, now there’s a rant to sink one’s teeth into.

“That is why it will not be a big company that solves the problem of making money in the digital era, it will be a small label or an individual artist or a small entrepreneurial enterprise or an artists’ collective.”

Such as “Song, by Toad Records, LLC,” for instance? I, for one, would buy stock.