Can you sum up your feelings towards Sony in one word? These people did. Well, most of them did. Others needed a few more. Gizmodo hit the streets of New York the other day to poll Average Joe on their feelings towards the Japanese super company, manufacturers of the PlayStation. They had to reply in either one word or a short phrase. The answers are about what I've come to expect when average people are asked their thoughts on something with a camera in their face: relentless opinion, soaked in ignorance (cheap??) with the occasional piece of brilliant insight (the "circus" ...

More than anything, Sony's lost its spirit, spending too much time telling us it's the greatest electronics company in the world and not nearly enough showing us.Proprietary Formats Sony's last huge format hit was a product called "Compact Disc". You might have heard of it. Spinning plastic wheel with pits in the bottom? Read by lasers? Co-developed with Philips? It took a couple of years for CDs to take hold, but once they did, Sony raked in the cash. Not only by selling players, but by manufacturing CDs for themselves and others. It's a huge part of their business even today, as ...

To understand Sony, understand its founders, Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita. Even though both are now gone, their executive dynasty and its haphazard, emotional governance established the model for the Sony of today—even as it holds Sony back.Rice Cookers and Electric Blankets Sony's early years are thick with stories of near disaster tempered by last-ditch recovery. After the Second World War, Japan was rebuilding its infrastructure. Electricity, no longer needed for military factories, was in surplus, and Ibuka and Morita wasted no time in putting together an electric rice cooker and an electric blanket for sale to the Japanese market. They were ...

There are very few companies in the world whose names provoke not just recognition, but affection. Sony, whose products defined gadgetry in my youth, has lost its way. I want them back. I miss loving Sony.We've spent the last few weeks talking to Sony customers, Sony employees, even Sony's detractors in an attempt to figure out what's gone wrong. It's become clear that even the major upheavals and reorganizations over the last few years haven't fully taken hold. And while Sony isn't doomed by a long shot, their inability to provide a cohesive platform and the products people really want ...