The Sharks Go After Sony

American Investor Targets Sony for a Breakup

The hedge fund manager, Daniel S. Loeb, is pressing Sony into spinning off part of its entertainment arm, which includes one of the biggest film studios in Hollywood and one of the largest music labels in the world, responsible for movies like “Skyfall” and artists like Taylor Swift.

Sony’s entry into the entertainment business was strictly to add value to its electronics business.

It never worked out that way because the entertainment tail wagged the electronics dog, insisting on DRM, regional rights, and other things that just make no sense in a digital world without borders and with the capability to do immediate, worldwide release.

Yes, Size Does Matter

2006: Digital Life: What I Saw (Sony Reader):

The Oh. My. God. Moment came in picking it up. This is a masterpiece of design and engineering. It is what a totable computer should be. This is what the Nokia 770 and all UMPCs should be like. Just this exact size and thickness. This is science-fiction come to life. It is worth your time to get to any store that has it just to hold it.

2013: iPad Mini Sales Overtaking iPad Sales Faster Than Apple Expected

Sales of the iPad mini are cannibalizing sales of the iPad, according to a report from NPD DisplaySearch. January shipments of tablet panels between 7 and 9 inches eclipsed shipments of larger panels, indicating an unexpected shift in consumer preference for a smaller form factor tablet.

Photo of paper models:

Left-right: Sony Reader 500, iPad Mini, Sony Reader 505

Obviously the Reader is now too small. But there was nothing else like it at that size back then. I was in the ballpark, though.

Shock: Sony Does Something Right!

I’ve ripped Sony apart again and again.

Really, I’d given up hope of them ever producing something that I’d want.

So I was really shocked by this video that Charbax did of the new VAIO Tap 20 PC at IFA.

This machine is brilliant:

Sony’s Death Spiral

Sony to axe 10,000 jobs in turnaround bid: Nikkei

Japan’s Sony Corp is cutting 10,000 jobs, about 6 percent of its global workforce, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday, as new CEO Kazuo Hirai looks to steer the electronics and entertainment giant back to profit after four years in the red.

Boldfaced emphasis added by me.

First, Howard Stringer should have never been let near Sony, never mind being put in charge of it.

Second, the Japanese are too damned self-effacing for their own good. Howard Stringer would have been booted out on his fat ass within two years of his mis-management had he been here in America.

Third, notice the word I emphasized: profit. That’s nothing more than temporarily making the books look good. It says zero about long-term sustainability.

Fourth, this is not going to save Sony. Throwing overboard ten thousand people is an admission of defeat, period. That tells me that Sony has been so gutted and so bollixed that whatever good ideas might still be inside that company have no chance of getting any attention.

Fifth, it also tells me that those currently in charge of Sony wouldn’t recognize a good idea if it bit them in the ass and starting draining their blood by the pint. This might now be in the very DNA of Sony, since there were people inside Sony who advocated the Sony Reader should have had wireless from the beginning, yet were overruled and then ignored as Amazon triumphed.

Sixth, Sony used to be all about the display. Who has that reputation now? Samsung! Losing a core business like that is simply inexcusable. It would be like Nokia losing its phone operating system (oops!).

Seventh, all Sony is doing these days is Me-Too and zombie tech. Me-Too: Android devices that have nothing to recommend them. Zombie tech: How long can they keep milking PlayStation (which was created by someone who was forced out of Sony, Ken Kutaragi!).

Eighth, Sony has become legacy corporate. It’s now more interested in preserving the jobs of those who lead it than moving the company into a glorious future. Hunkering down instead of risking is little different from just being dead.

Previously here:

This Was Sony

This Was Sony

The company that has become largely irrelevant is in the news again today, with a piece alternately touting its possible revival or its imminent death by financial vultures.

Special Report: The Sony Schism

Through the magic of Google Books, let’s take a brief look at Sony in history.

Sony Reader WiFi: Sloppy Screen Redraw

I noticed this in the initial videos from a trade show months ago but thought it was a matter of pre-release software.

Now it’s been confirmed in more than one video that Sony is doing something bizarre in its handling of eInk screen refresh that neither the Amazon Kindle nor Barnes & Noble Nook do.

The following are screensnaps from a video posted by The eBook Reader blog:

No Graffiti For Rooted Sony Reader WiFi

Nook Touch vs Sony Reader PRS-T1 (Video)

Scroll down in the Comments for this:

Apparently I got Graffiti Pro from Amazon awhile ago and never tested. I loaded it onto the Sony but it just shows up as a black box. About the only thing that works is the period….

The AnySoftKeyboard works well on the Sony, not sure why Graffiti doesn’t.

Well, that kills my hope for that!

Previously here:

Does Graffiti For Android Work On Nook Touch?

And no, it doesn’t work on the Nook Touch because it can’t be selected as an alternate keyboard to begin with.

Fondles: Kindle Basic, Sony Reader WiFi, And More

I went to Best Buy this morning to see if they had the new Sony Reader WiFi to fondle.

When I turned the corner to the eBook device display, I was hit by this:

The Kindle Basic! WTF!

Adobe’s ePub DRM Has A Problem

After reporting that the new Sony Reader WiFi has been reported to download from the Kobo Books store too, Jane Litte of Dear Author picked one up and did some tests along with Hadrien Gardeur of Feedbooks.

Jane is able to download DRMed ePub from Kobo fine. Hadrien cannot.

Jane cannot download DRMed ePubs from the Feedbooks Store or Google eBookstore. (Note those are the DRMed for-pay eBooks at Feedbooks. not the DRM-free free ones! The free ones download fine. So do the free ones from Google Books.)

Jane cannot even sign into Books on Board because the website seems to use a popup for logging in.

Jane also cannot download anything at all from Barnes & Noble because their cloggy website crashes the browser (no surprise, really). Sideloaded Nookbooks will not open — meaning Sony again didn’t choose to license the mutation of Adobe DRM only Barnes & Noble uses.

But what’s going on here?

If Kobo’s Adobe DRMed ePubs work, why won’t those from Feedbooks and Google eBookstore?

This is supposed to be a “standard” DRM!

Meanwhile, over at Mobileread, Sony Reader WiFi owners are also reporting problems with Adobe Digital Editions (this is also no surprise, really).

Sony Reader WiFi: Buy From More Stores

Well, this is a very, very surprising development:

I picked up a T1 at Target yesterday. I was able to download a DRM’ed EPUB from my dropbox account successfully. I was also able to login to my Kobo account and download a book! The library book download process also worked smoothly. They go into a downloads folder. They auto-load right into your booklist.

Amazon Kindle = buy from Kindle Store only on device.

Barnes & Noble Nook = buy from B&N only on device.

Kobo eReader = buy from Kobo only on device.

Sony Reader WiFi = buy from Sony or Kobo on device.

And since Kobo works, it might work for any other bookstore that sells Adobe DRMed ePub, such as Feedbooks.

Now, if we can also get it rooted too…

Update:

Now I wonder if Sony went further, including the mutant Adobe DRM that Barnes & Noble uses. This would let people also buy ePubs from Barnes & Noble too — on the device.