Is Panasonic the new Sony?
Growing up, Sony was it. They made the Walkman and good TVs. Later in my life, I started to hear rumblings that Sony quality really wasn’t all that good. More recently in my life, I’ve experienced poor quality first hand with a defective laptop, defective desktop computer (neither of them mine, thank God), a defective digital camera (covered under a recall, I hope), and two short-lived DVD players (kicking myself).So, now I’m looking for a replacement DVD player on the inexpensive side. I’ve looked at online reviews at places like epinions.com and LG, Toshiba, and others are not getting good reviews. However, one company is getting good reviews and that’s Panasonic. I found the same thing when looking for a microwave a few months ago.Is Panasonic the way to go for my future gadget needs?
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Sony has definitely lost its edge as an innovator, then let their NEXT major differentiator slip by (and get usurped by Apple) – the Sony Style. Sony Style meant the look of the hardware but also how to use it. It was Sony who pioneered (I think) those now-classic button shapes for play, pause, fast forward and rewind. I remember seeing them as a kid on a Sony reel-to-reel “tapecorder” (yes, that’s what it said on the box), and noticing them. In fact, that might be my first recall instance of a branded user interface. Somehow they let their stamp of Sony Style get diluted and compromised – perhaps by having several design centers? Anyway, it is a sad fall from glory for Sony.