Sony being Sony...
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| seatex Apr 12, 2013 2:06 PM EDT |
This is why I no longer own any Sony products or Blu-Ray anything. I simply choose not to feed the greedy. |
| tmx Apr 12, 2013 4:51 PM EDT |
I haven't purchased Blu-Ray since it came out. If you look at Sony financial situation it's really not good with Fitch putting their stock to junk status, selling away their assets and lots of job cuts. But they are making some comeback with their mobile division which do a decent job to be honest, and they won't go anywhere soon with their strong involvement in the entertainment business, which is their main stronghold, in term of technology and innovation that mantle has already been passed to Samsung. I think video is moving to streaming now, even legal streaming, and XBMC is beginning to get the better edge on VLC from this, at least for me and especially on Android. |
| caitlyn Apr 12, 2013 4:56 PM EDT |
If you don't want to "feed the greedy" you can't buy any products or feed any people. Greed is part of human nature. Businesses are there to make money. In order to do that they employ people and pay them, which, IMHO, is a very good thing. Ideologies that assumed humans can exist without greed (read: Communism) were changed to satisfy the greed of the ruling elite. I'm not saying greed is good. I'm saying greed is unavoidable. |
| gus3 Apr 12, 2013 5:15 PM EDT |
@caitlyn, I would call what you describe as "selfishness," not "greed." Selfishness is "I want something," greed is "I want it all, and I want nobody else to have any." At least that's how I would use them, I think. |
| caitlyn Apr 12, 2013 6:52 PM EDT |
That's not common English usage of the term AFAIK. |
| djohnston Apr 12, 2013 7:11 PM EDT |
Quoting:That's not common English usage of the term AFAIK. Semantics. He said, she said. You say toe-may-toe, I say toe-mah-toe. |
| Ridcully Apr 12, 2013 7:17 PM EDT |
I'm like "tmx" above....Blu-ray has never excited me in any way. My wife and I enjoy watching movies on a 26" (66cm) diagonal LCD tv set. Standard dvd format is more than sufficient, especially when it is fed through a Toshiba HDD video player which can enhance a standard dvd in any case. I also don't like the idea that a blu-ray version of a movie costs at least $10 more than the standard dvd version. The only thing we would ever do if our present video player collapsed would be to purchase a new Toshiba blu-ray machine to get access to their (apparently) very superior enhancement circuitry and simply use the new one to play standard dvds as usual. We don't have streaming access. With respect to VLC, I could see the group simply pulling out of its present French location completely and moving to a location that gives them more freedom. My perception is that it's a case of the nose being cut off to spite the face by HADOPI. Their actions may produce more than they bargained for, and the French won't particularly like losing such a flagship company. |
| HoTMetaL Apr 12, 2013 7:21 PM EDT |
Quoting: Ideologies that assumed humans can exist without greed (read: Communism)Be careful not to slide off your own slippery slope there, caitlyn. |
| seatex Apr 13, 2013 9:47 AM EDT |
Hi caitlyn - Please allow me to clarify my stance on Sony and Blu-Ray. I am personally a conservative pro-capitalist with a business degree. I am all for companies making a decent profit from their endeavors. However, many large tech corporations like Sony, Apple and Microsoft are just taking the pursuit of profits too far, in my opinion. Increasingly, these companies are not just trying to sell you a product, but rather leasing it to you under their terms of use. I don't like being controlled in such a way, because I'm a freedom-lover as well. I could have used the word "controlling" in addition to "greedy" in describing my view of Sony. For Sony, this is a total repeat of their BetaMax product failure and they clearly didn't learn from that. BetaMax was superior to VHS, but VHS won out because of competition - lots of choices for playing VHS tapes, but none with BetaMax - since Sony would not allow other companies to make players for their format without paying exhorbitant licensing fees to them. |
| kikinovak Apr 13, 2013 2:53 PM EDT |
@caitlyn: While sometimes you don't have a choice, you can always "buy intelligent". Here in rural South France, folks are quite sensible about the matter. Buy fruit and vegetables from the local farmers and not from the supermarkets (and get a way better product for less money, BTW). Avoid any Microsoft products and purchase a Slackware Linux subscription (same remark as for fruit and vegetables). Buy books from the local bookstore in Sommières and Nîmes and not from Amazon. Buy bread from our (excellent) local baker and not from the big stores. I don't know in what part of the planet you live, but around here, greed is not part of human nature, but the bad behaviour of a minority who can and should be avoided. |
| Ridcully Apr 13, 2013 6:10 PM EDT |
@seatex........Well said and I thoroughly agree. It brings back 60 year old memories of Kodak and their attempts to make sure you ONLY used over-priced Kodak film rolls in your old Kodak box brownie etc. They altered the size of the film loading holes and tried a number of things to enforce their will......but the open market place sorted that out and you were able to buy any brand of film you liked - I think it was Agfa that smashed the Kodak film monopoly wide open to begin with. Like you, I do not appreciate the "control" efforts of exclusive monopolies, and I consider Sony's Blu-ray disk to be a classic example of sheer greed by Sony and enforced lack of choice for the consumer. Video streaming may cut this obscenity down to size and I certainly hope so, but in any event, as I mentioned above, for most purposes, standard dvds cut the mustard very nicely. The HD of a blu-ray disk is so acute you can see the skin pores on actors if you really want to, but it's not something that has ever excited my interest.....rather yucky in fact. Update @kikinovak......I also live in the countryside and hear you loud and clear. When we have a surplus of fruit or vegetables, we give it away at the local newsagency with "help yourself" signs. Again, my age allows me to look back and pull archival material out of memory.....and one in particular is that for the big USA companies, the dominant rule has been for decades: "Greed is good". It was so bad in the 50's and 60's that in 1958, a gentleman called Stan Freburg (he was actually an ex-advertising executive who went on to do satirical tv shows) wrote a song called "Green Christmas" which satirised the greed of the big companies pushing their products using Christmas. It's still on the net too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5IXlfJSEi4 I recall that our commercial radio stations in Australia immediately banned it from being played on any of their broadcasts.......so the public/government broadcaster ABC (Australian Broadcasting Commission) played it almost once an hour ......However, the principles exposed in "Green Christmas" are alive and well in the world of today. |
| tracyanne Apr 13, 2013 6:36 PM EDT |
Quoting:The HD of a blu-ray disk is so acute you can see the skin pores on actors if you really want to, but it's not something that has ever excited my interest.....rather yucky in fact. You can't even do that if you have front row centre at live theatre, so why would I want it on my TV. |
| Ridcully Apr 13, 2013 6:41 PM EDT |
Hi Tracyanne.....I've seen it on a sample disk demo at some store......can't remember where or when, but it was a turn off, not a turn on. Heck, the actors in live theatre (and silver screen) normally use so much makeup you can't really see their skin anyhow. |
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