#683 in Portable audio & video products

Reddit mentions of Sony NW-HD1 20 GB Network Walkman Digital Music Player

Sentiment score: 1
Reddit mentions: 1

We found 1 Reddit mentions of Sony NW-HD1 20 GB Network Walkman Digital Music Player. Here are the top ones.

Sony NW-HD1 20 GB Network Walkman Digital Music Player
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20 GB hard drive digital music player that fits comfortably into the palm of a hand or in a pocket or purseStores up to 13,000 tracks (900 CDs) at 48 kbps when using Sony's ATRAC3plus audio formatUp to 30 hours of playback with built-in rechargeable lithium-ion batterySkip Free G-Protection Technology provides quick recovery from both horizontal and vertical shockUSB 2.0 cradle for PC connection and recharging
Specs:
Weight1 Pounds

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Found 1 comment on Sony NW-HD1 20 GB Network Walkman Digital Music Player:

u/kleinbl00 ยท 9 pointsr/geek

I used to be an audiovisual consultant. I interfaced with large electronics companies all the time, including Sony Professional. Who make great products that are nigh-onto-impossible to specify because they have no support, are canceled at sporadic and unpredictable intervals, and cannot easily be demoed for customers.

One of my friends from college went into advertising and web design. She had a degree in "web design" when Netscape 2.0 was bleeding edge. And she ended up working on some pretty big, pretty badass campaigns. It's kind of cool when the branding for your pissant website was done by the same lady who came up with "SoCo'n'lime."

One day she called me up.

"So can you talk about... electronics?"

"ad nauseum. You know that. Why?"

"Well, I've got a client with some branding issues."

"Is it Sony?"

"I couldn't tell you that even if it were true."

"Okay, is it a big company?"

"Yeah."

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, let's say you've got a client that makes all sorts of mis-steps and you want to know a way to rehabilitate their image so people will buy their products again."

"What sort of mis-steps?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Do they involve things like root kits on CDs, proprietary formats that cost too much and nobody can use, and a general insistence on dominance-by-reputation rather than innovation and quality?"

"Uhmmm..."

"Sounds a lot like Sony."

"Can I call you at home tonight?"

"Sure."

So she calls me that night. Yeah, it's Sony. What she wants from me, basically, is a technical run-down of every piss-poor decision Sony has made, from my perspective as an audiovisual consultant, and what could be done to remedy the situation.

It was one of the best emails I've ever written. It's like someone asking you to vent after six years of abuse. I probably wrote 4000 words on how, why and when Sony sucked. To me, MemoryStick, rootkits, PlayStation Arrogance and all the rest are symptomatic; the real totem of Sony Failure was the NW-HD1: take a hallowed brand like "walkman" and slap it on a device that doesn't play mp3, doesn't play wma, doesn't play anything but ATRAC3 (in an era when ATRAC4.5 was widely available), charge $400 for it and expect it to compete against the iPod.

She thanked me profusely, wrote a branding document, recommended a course of action, and watched as Sony did none of it and continued to fall on its face for another 5 years.

This is the company that championed Betamax long after it was clear VHS had won. They won't rest until they're sharing a casket with Philco and RCA.