Tailgate Radio Episode #6 Is Now Live

[stinky613]

Personally, I find it frustrating as a consumer that Sony often seems more interesting in hooking me on a format that they own than offering me a product with the features I want. I understand their motivation (lots of money to be made in a format that takes off), but it's frustrating where I stand. ATRAC3, MiniDisc, and UMD all sucked IMO, and Sony just wouldn't give up trying to shove them down my throat. Again, I understand why they try to shove their formats down my throat, but that doesn't make it less annoying.

I didn't know this until today: did anyone know that they were still selling a MiniDisc player in 2007? They pushed that bomb of a format for 15 years.

Back to the PSP, I can't remember... was the PSP-1000 successful in the US or did sales not pick up until the -2000, -3000?

eh, maybe it's just how I think

Sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, most people don't think the way I do. My original stream of consciousness thought process started something like this: Vita... I don't think I care, but I didn't think I would care about the DS (which I own and really like--especially once I got the SuperCard DS ONE)... but I didn't really care for the PSP... and the Go was universally blasted... I only really had interest in the Final Fantasy, God of War, and Metal Gear stuff... My GOD the MiniDisc was a terrible format... and I remember how frustrating the two Sony MP3 players I was gifted years ago... What really good portable devices have they made?... I feel like I remember way more flops than successes...

Digression: the SuperCard was a big game changer for me with the DS because there are a ton of games worth playing (even if just for a quick gimmick) for adults on the DS, but far fewer that justify their sticker prices.

[lotus]

I don't know if some of those are real fails. The DAT players never found a huge market but they were awesome. Mini-disk had broader appeal and was also great in the pre-mp3 era.

A consequence of trying to do bleeding edge products is that sometimes they have an exceptionally short lifespan. As for money, I'm willing to bet that Sony still makes its bread and butter on TVs and Stereos, etc. That's likely the only reason they can afford to speculate in the technology market.

[rabb]

Personally, I find it frustrating as a consumer that Sony often seems more interesting in hooking me on a format that they own than offering me a product with the features I want.

I agree with you here 1000000000%

great discussion man...no way your brother isn't adopted

[rabb]

A consequence of trying to do bleeding edge products is that sometimes they have an exceptionally short lifespan. As for money, I'm willing to bet that Sony still makes its bread and butter on TVs and Stereos, etc. That's likely the only reason they can afford to speculate in the technology market.

that is really my point, it's not like anyone really KNOWS the next big thing....everyone is just guessing and missing sometimes

now, when it hits....it may hit big and be the launching pad they needed, Apple is a great example...were it not for the iPod, who knows where they would be

[lotus]

They are definitely among the worst for trying to fuck you with proprietary formatting. But again, in the pre-MP3 days the MD stuff was pretty good, shitload better than cassettes anyway.

Their sad devotion to that business model has not helped them conjure up a new, younger consumer base outside the PS lineup.

[JohnnyHustler]

Stink,

The PSP picked up popularity at the tail end of the 1000's run, and the beginning of the 2000's run. That was the time they had their first major price drop, which put the price better in line with the tech.

I will agree with the problem with Sony pushing a format. It's also why they have had problems with new products being released at ridiculous price points.

[stinky613]

Look at Apple and Nintendo. Both are batting right around the 50/50 mark historically. The only difference is their hits were concentrated into a smaller period of time, so they look like geniuses. However, their misses also were concentrated to a smaller time period, and both were on the brink of complete failure. Even right now, the Mac has an adoption rate of around 10% at best, yet they are considered a powerhouse because they own the MP3 market and the smartphone market (although Android is taking away a lot of that market share monthly). At best, you can say they are at 66% success currently, and I'm not even factoring in the yet to get off the ground Apple TV.

Nintendo shot themselves in the foot by pissing off Sony in their joint venture to produce what would have been a CD-based Nintendo console. Sony's success in the market prompted Microsoft to see the potential of the gaming market. Whether or not these two giants would have entered the gaming market at the same time as they did with the same results cannot be seen, but Nintendo set in motion the dominos that led to their hard times with the N64 and GameCube (though one should not ignore poor design decisions as a factor in those hardships).

If the Vita is a game changer then I can see how that would put this discussion in a different light.

Similarly, if we had talked about Apple in 1997 we would see a company that had been struggling for a while (5 years? 10 years? I don't recall) and had suffered incredibly from their decision not to follow Microsoft's path of licensing and selling anywhere rather than controlling everything themselves. Look 5 years down the road and you might forget about those hard times because of the wild success of the iMac and iPod.

As for money, I'm willing to bet that Sony still makes its bread and butter on TVs and Stereos, etc. That's likely the only reason they can afford to speculate in the technology market.

I wouldn't disagree with you there for a microsecond.

[lotus]

Stink,

The PSP picked up popularity at the tail end of the 1000's run, and the beginning of the 2000's run. That was the time they had their first major price drop, which put the price better in line with the tech.

I will agree with the problem with Sony pushing a format. It's also why they have had problems with new products being released at ridiculous price points.

Alright, everybody ready? Drink whenever John says "price point".

[Jammer]

Well from this discussion, I guess I shouldn't count on my brother getting me a Vita for Christmas this year.

[rabb]

Well from this discussion, I guess I shouldn't count on my brother getting me a Vita for Christmas this year.

he is your little brother, you should be buying him shit

I was going to see if he was available for the podcast....Stink do you interrupt a lot, and crave attention?

[stinky613]

Well, I guess I shouldn't count on my brother.

Fixed that for you.

[JohnnyHustler]

Personally, I find it frustrating as a consumer that Sony often seems more interesting in hooking me on a format that they own than offering me a product with the features I want.

I agree with you here 1000000000%

great discussion man...no way your brother isn't adopted

I don't know...look how long some of his posts are. There's not way Stinky AIN'T related to Jammer.

[stinky613]

in the pre-MP3 days the MD stuff was pretty good, shitload better than cassettes anyway.

Yeah, it was better than cassettes. The problem I see with that line of thinking is the MD bridged the gap between cassettes and CDs when no one was really asking them to. If you wanted to record something on the fly cassettes were cheap and available. CDs offered great quality and everyone was already going wild replacing their cassette albums. Were MiniDiscs shiny and neat at the time? Yeah. Were they useful in a way that made people clamor for them over the alternatives (cassettes, CDs)? I don't think so.

[lotus]

in the pre-MP3 days the MD stuff was pretty good, shitload better than cassettes anyway.

Yeah, it was better than cassettes. The problem I see with that line of thinking is the MD bridged the gap between cassettes and CDs when no one was really asking them to. If you wanted to record something on the fly cassettes were cheap and available. CDs offered great quality and everyone was already going wild replacing their cassette albums. Were MiniDiscs shiny and neat at the time? Yeah. Were they useful in a way that made people clamor for them over the alternatives (cassettes, CDs)? I don't think so.

They were for me, and they were huge in Japan, just like me.

I was doing a lot of traveling and living a bit of a vagabond lifestyle at the height of MD popularity. They were a huge improvement over carrying around either a portable CD player or relying on cassettes. Sure, here they were a niche market but worldwide they were more popular.

[Falling Man]

If this discussion is anything like the podcast do I need to bother listening to the podcast later?