Crave Talk: Why is Sony culling its most innovative products?
Tags: sony, consumer, electronic, cycle
First the Aibo and the Qrio, now the Walkman Bean. Like a mother taking her most beautiful children outside and drowning them in the rain-bucket, Sony seems to be eliminating its most exciting designs.
The company's MP3 players have always had a remarkably short life-cycle, but the Bean was by far its most distinctive and usable player. Yet the Bean has been axed only six months after launch.
Many critics suspect that, in its desperation to topple Apple, Sony has been reluctant to commit to a single player and promote it effectively. Instead, the company scurries about like an overworked barman, serving increasingly exotic and badly thought-out cocktails, all the time staring enviously at the packed bar across the road.
The Independent puts Sony's decision to axe the Bean down to "the digital revolution and the fashion for ruthlessly upgrading" -- but if this is true, why has Apple's iPod design remained relatively unchanged since it's inception?
Like The Independent, the Telegraph used news of the Bean's demise to run a feature on how short-lived modern tech is: "The life cycle of electronic gadgets has shrunk from years to months", writes their consumer affairs editor. If this is true, how to explain the continuing popularity of the Motorola Razr V3, launched over two years ago?
What about the death of Aibo? Arguably the most ambitious consumer electronic product in the world, Sony's electronic dog lasted longer than the Bean but shared its untimely demise. Perhaps Sony's recent decision to get rid of exciting products and replace them with something -- anything -- 'new' is not a sign of restless public appetite for change. It may say more about consumer electronics companies that are afflicted by a kind of retail attention deficit disorder.
Rather than refine a product, or simply design a great one to begin with, they'd sooner change it entirely. If Sony were a person, we'd put it on a strong dose of Ritalin. -Chris Stevens
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MeeshaThu 16 February, 2006 9:11pm
Innovative or not, if your product seems like a novelty, its popularity is bound to fade. I know I had a hard time taking the Bean seriously because of its name, and can't help but wonder if it would have fared better with a more tech-sounding moniker, like "Walkman BN7600".
The Aibo, too, seemed like a toy, and who wants to drop that much cash on a toy?
TicklesMon 20 February, 2006 1:46pm
I disagree. I think that the practice of giving products serial numbers as names is silly. It's confusing for the consumer and I fail to see how it helps to develop a brand from a corporate point of view.
As with many issues in today's consumer world, a lot of companies out there could do with taking a leaf out of Apple's sumptiously simplistic and well designed book.
AnonymousThu 12 June, 2008 4:56pm
I have a Bean, ive had it since theyve first came out and mine JUST died =[
i mean,, like, 2 hours ago from now it died =[ (12th June 2008, 17:00)
but i really loved it as they are sooo easy to use, TOTALLY fashionable and virtually indestructable, imean, i dropped this thing off a 20ft ledge onto solid concrete (obviously by accident) ran down to get it and it was a little scratched.
i went swimming underwater with it in my pocket, i put it through the washing machine and ive dropped it off high places onto rocks/ concrete COUNTLESS times, it survived and it does still work, its just gone fuzzy and buttons have stopped working ich sucks. i had got to know it soo well =[ ...we were partners ='[
lol, but yeea, they shouldve kept on making them, they rock soo bad =]
ahh,,, R.I.P. indeed =[ =[ =[ =[ =[
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AnonymousThu 16 February, 2006 6:36pm
I think that it is about time. Sony has made their product line too confusing.. too much choice is no choice at all. Too little distinction between similar products coupled with short life spans is turning people off. I am a big Sony fan, but it seems that coming out with too many similar products at once is really not useful and makes little sense to purchase. They need to refocus on creating products that agument each other, better software (sonicstage/connect) that simplies the process and perhaps stop chasing their past glories and blaze some new trails.