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Sony is a mixed bag of nuts.

On one hand their Bravia TV's are excellent.

Their computers are stylish, but run crappy windows.

Sony/BMG installed rootkits on millions of people's computers.

The PS3 is powerful, but so much was thrown in it to win the BlueRay war, it needs a price drop before the holidays bad.

The walkman was great, but it was a one trick pony.

Sony, glad you won the BlueRay war over Microsoft though.

Jul 01, 09 - 10:21 pm Comment from: HMCIV

Here's a good one from the Beeb. 13 Year Old Reviews a 30 year old Sony Walkman:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8117619.stm

Beleaguered is the most over used word on MDN.

It's tough for me to be rational when it comes to Sony, due to what happened to one of my very good friends. When she was very young, her dad left her and her mom to go back to Japan and work for Sony. The job offer at Sony was more important to him than his family, than my friend.

Not the most logical reason to dislike Sony, granted, but for me it serves as a constant reminder of how work should never, ever be more important than family or friends.

(…oh yeah, and that rootkit thing was really scummy of them to do, too. Plus that astroturf PSP blog, further demonstrating their lack of ethics. These, and other examples of contempt for consumers, merely reinforce my antipathy for them.)

Jul 01, 09 - 10:34 pm Comment from: Derek in Milan

Sony need an OS - then they might get somewhere.
All the manufacturers associated with the dreadful windows are failing.

@ Get a Thesaurus

If you knew your Apple history, you would understand why the word "beleaguered" is overused in this satirical manner.

You don't have to like it, but don't expect much sympathy for your viewpoint from those who carried the torch for Apple through those dark days.

Jul 01, 09 - 10:45 pm Comment from: qka

@ Gabriel

Here, here!

(Or is it "Hear, hear!" ? Does anyone know?)

What the hell is a matter with you MDN? Is every company besides Apple "beleaguered"?
Hell, its not like I come to this site for any constructive articles anyway. I only come here to see if you've spotted an article on some other site about the upcoming mactouch/itablet.

Other than that, I couldn't care less about MDN.

Jul 01, 09 - 11:19 pm Comment from: Bandit Bill

Knowing history of the word "beleaguered" doesn't make it any funnier. It's like telling the same joke over and over again. That's not funny. It's lame.

It would be funny if MDN could come up with some original material. I might actually get a kick out of that.

I remember years ago when there was speculation that SONY might buy "beleaguered" Apple. Now Apple could buy beleaguered SONY--but why would it want to?

"Earlier this year, Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer announced a new team of executives and promised to bring together the hardware electronics and entertainment content divisions of Sony's sprawling empire."

LOL. Wasn't that Stringer's first order of business after he took over a few years ago?

What a joke.

It's "Hear, hear!", as in, "Hear what this person has to say!"

Of course now we say, "Listen up!"

Jul 02, 09 - 12:11 am Comment from: Olmecmystic

Personally, I'll never get tired of the word "beleaguered" being used in reference to everybody else instead of Apple. Some of you need to research Apple's history in the 90s, especially the second half of the 90s. (I've got that whole time period bookmarked, so I know it well).

Apple Computer was on a death watch and M$/Windoze 95, Dell, Compaq, Gateway, Packard Bell and all the PC makers were kicking ass. FINALLY PC users could point and click and drag and drop without needing a Mac to do it and they were in nirvana, especially businesses.

The business and tech press couldn't write any article about Apple that didn't lead with the word "beleaguered". "Beleaguered Apple is rumored takeover bait for Oracle or Sun or IBM or nobody. They're just going to go under." "Beleaguered Apple should abandon hardware and just do software." Blah, blah, blah.

Those of us who are old enough to remember and who helped Apple sustain through the bad times LOVE it now when everybody ELSE is beleaguered and blatantly copying everything Apple does, to no avail. Those who thought Apple should pick hardware or software and go with one or the other back then can't compete with Apple's vertically integrated business model now.

So anyway, for me it's "beleaguered, beleaguered, beleaguered" (remember Ballmer's "developers, developers, developers?" and chuckles all around, if not outright guffaws at all of Apple's "competitors". Now they know they should've killed Apple when they had the chance, before the NeXT merger. I think they all thought Apple would just die on its own, merger or not.

I've sometimes tried to imagine a world without Apple in it. What a nightmare! Can you imagine a world where the word "computer" means a PC, period? A world where Apple went under years ago? No iMac, no iPod, no iPhone, no Airport, no Bonjour, no OS X? (Cue Sam Kinison scream: "Oh, oh, ohhhhh!!!).

If the word "beleaguered" didn't already exist, we'd have to invent it just so we could have some fun at these company's expense, the SAME way they used to have TOO much fun at ours.

Peace.
Olmecmystic

@Bandit Bill
I suppose in your eyes it was funny in the past when every Microsoft-sponsored tech "reporter" started every story about Apple with the label "beleaguered".

In an attempt to downplay Apple's growth, product development, and stock rise, every bought-hack that Microsoft could put in its pocket would raise the specter of Apple's imminent demise, by calling Apple "beleaguered".

Now Apple fans get to see the same blow-hards sink with their floundering companies, companies that couldn't innovate their way out of a wet paper bag.

We Apple fans will, to infinity, enjoy seeing the once misused term "beleaguered", now put in its rightful place, in front of the names of all of the companies that derided Apple, that tried to coast on Apple's coattails and bask in Apple's reflected glory.

"Beleaguered" "Beleaguered" "Beleaguered"
"Beleaguered" "Beleaguered" "Beleaguered" !!!!!!

Hahahahahahahahaha!!!

Jul 02, 09 - 01:06 am Comment from: ken1w

Keeping OVER-using the word "beleaguered," MDN. No company was more famously "beleaguered" than Apple in the late 90's. Now, in the late 00's, that label can be applied to an amazing number of companies that were the tech high-flyers ten years ago. Apple survived and is today's tech high-flyer.

Some of the "kids" who post here were not even teenagers ten years ago.

Jul 02, 09 - 01:06 am Comment from: Bandit Bill

Again, the history behind beleaguered still doesn't make it funny after the 1000th time, unless you're simple minded.

Jul 02, 09 - 01:39 am Comment from: ken1w

@ Bandit Bill

It's not meant to be just "funny." If you think that's the sole reason for over-using the word "beleaguered" on MDN, YOU're being "simple-minded." It's meant to be reminder of where Apple was before, and the absolute reversal of fortunes today.

Jul 02, 09 - 02:07 am Comment from: The Other Steve

I bought a Sony MP3 player before the iPod first came out. Hey - it was Sony, how could you go wrong?

The thing was HORRIBLE!

It was complicated, It wouldn't play any of my mp3's, the player had to re-compress any songs I wanted to put on it using a very complex process that was s-l-o-o-o-o-o-w!!! (remember, computers were slow back then but this was mind-numbing) If I wanted to put the songs back on it at a later time, I had to re-compress it again!
Why? Sony sells music. They were so busy trying to protect their songs, they forgot I was their customer.

Don't forget Apple was late to the mp3 game. Others already had devices out there and most of the mp3 software written didn't work on the Mac.

-----Bottom line-----
Sony's product was so insulting that they deserved to be kicked out of the product category never to be invited back again!

Jul 02, 09 - 02:15 am Comment from: Crabs

MDN, are you kidding me? They post their first loss in 15 years, and suddenly they're beleaguered? Come on. If only more American companies were like Sony. When Sony posted their losses, their executives took pay cuts. They made no layoffs. They didn't cut the lower workers' salaries. The executives took cuts.

I'm sorry, yes, Sony has its issues, but I will always respect them. They do make good products. If I had to buy a laptop other than a Mac, it would probably be a VAIO. They kind of did pioneer portable music.

Come on MDN, if 10 years ago, people had belittled Apple's original successes like you're now belittling the Walkman, you would've flipped out. Just shut up.

Jul 02, 09 - 05:52 am Comment from: R

@crabs--

You must be new (not here 10 years ago) when they threw ut the word 'beleaguered' at Apple at every turn. Macobserver.com had its still-ongoing (I believe) Apple death-knell watch.

MDN is using the same tactics that the so-called objective press used on Apple. It's part of the joke.

Jul 02, 09 - 08:12 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Cassettes were so mid-fi.

I guess I'm the only person that never owned a Walkman (or one of the zillion and one copies from elsewhere).

Sony always did and still does video right! Their Bravia HDTVs and Blu-ray players are fantastic. I've got one of each!
_______________________

Yeah, beleaguered is over-used here. So what?

As a dedicated Mac user since 1985, I got sick and tired and worse listening to smug, know-nothing idiots spreading FUD and fallacies, complaining about Apple and Macs and trying to convince people that Macs were toys, that Apple would disappear next quarter and reading about "Beleaguered Apple" in every other MS-sponsored shill-rag tech headline.

Beleaguered? So what.
There's a little poetic justice using the word 'beleaguered' here, laddies.

Jul 02, 09 - 08:31 am Comment from: Demon

Sony has only one major problem and that is Howard Stringer and his crony board of directors. To fix Sony the Share holders need to vote the Howard Stringer cronies off the board and then ditch Howard Stringer. I'd recommend that Sony share holders take a close look at Noriaki Takayama for president and CEO of Sony, I think he is the only man on the planet that can turn Sony around.

Jul 02, 09 - 09:00 am Comment from: disposableidentity

@ crabs

Apple was surprisingly profitable through most of the "beleaguered" years. Their market share was certainly falling behind due to the explosive growth of the PC market in the 90s. The number of Mac units shipped dipped very little. The label was applied by the media because they thought they could see the future. They thought that market share was the key to this market. No one in the media understood where Apple could go with good leadership and the assets they had. No one was looking at margin.

Jul 02, 09 - 09:16 am Comment from: aka Christian

Olmecmystic - Nicely phrased.

I asked for a Sony Walkman for my high school graduation gift, and it helped get me through my lousy first couple years of college (I was a first gen college grad in my family). I remember it very fondly. Some of Sony's stuff is still good. I've got a Bravia screen, and while the picture is great, I've mentioned here before that their remote is terrible. They could learn some things from Apple about simplicity in the user interface.

Jul 02, 09 - 09:35 am Comment from: NCIceman

Definitely a piece of history. I owned several walkmans, but the digital revolution has totally replaced it.
It is funny how Sony seems so hit or miss with their products these days. Their high end stuff is nice, but pricey, while their low end stuff is just crap. I love my Bravia TV and BDP blu ray player, but for portable music the iPod/iPhone is it.

@Olmecmystic

Even if "beleaguered" is being used sarcastically to make a point about what comes around goes around, MDN still comes off as a very unhealthy bunch of fanbois who worship Apple no matter if they do good or evil.....or stupidness.

Jul 02, 09 - 10:57 am Comment from: zmarc

By my calculations -- and I well remember when every tech article had to, by law, put "beleaguered" in front of any reference to Apple Computer -- MDN's frequent use of the word "beleaguered" has only accounted for 1.7% of the total times it was used against Apple...

So keep it up, MDN! Another 50 years of other "beleaguered" companies and the world will be balanced again.

"@Olmecmystic

Even if "beleaguered" is being used sarcastically to make a point about what comes around goes around, MDN still comes off as a very unhealthy bunch of fanbois who worship Apple no matter if they do good or evil.....or stupidness."

I'd rather see "beleaguered" than "fanboi".

MW: getting, as in, this discussion is getting repetitive

@DRMSSDB

I used the word "fanboi" because the word itself is disturbing.....isn't it?
Bottomline, MDN's reporting isn't balanced.