Excuse me if you've gone over this before, but why? If someone makes exactly what you want in the form factor you want, and we'll assume for the moment that it works well, why wouldn't you pick it up?
Excuse me if you've gone over this before, but why? If someone makes exactly what you want in the form factor you want, and we'll assume for the moment that it works well, why wouldn't you pick it up?
Listen, there's no way to avoid giving money to people who do bad things or support things you disagree with. It's just not possible. A lot of times the stuff a company does is just so good you can't not use it (Google, Amazon). Other times it's almost impossible to miss something because it's fucking everywhere (Olympics, NFL).
But SONY is actually something you can miss. There are basically zero exclusive Playstation games worth playing. The few that I've wanted to play ended up being released for PC, or were shit when I got the chance to play them (Shadow of the Colossus).
SONY also has plenty of competitors in every other area of business in which they participate. It's easy to not give SONY money when Samsung exists.
I used to even have a SONY credit card. But since this happened
I got an Amazon credit card and just stopped buying any of their shit. Well, that's not entirely true. I don't check before watching a movie or music to see if it's from SONY. That's just too much effort. And it's rare enough that there's a movie I want to pay moneys for, that I'm not going to skip a good one if they produced it.
Also, I have some $5 sony headphones because whatever, $5. And I will probably try a demo of that new Everquest, but not pay for it.
This is a good point that helps me a little bit in my XBOX One/PS4 debate. SONY is pretty fucking shitty. Even shittier than Microsoft.
Microsoft stopped being shitty to customers and developers. They're just still shitty to businesses customers.
To be fair, they only stopped because they can afford to now.
They stopped because they had to. Almost all companies, especially tech companies, follow the same pattern.
When you are an underdog you have to be customer centric, open source, user friendly, etc. This is what lets you grow large. Then once you are large and in control, you have to rake in the cash and milk all the users you trapped. You close up, you dick the customer over. Then as the customers slowly flow away, you open back up again and cycle it around. This happens in the macro and the micro.
Look at the history of the Twitter API. OMG do awesome shit with all this data everyone! Oh, too many Twitter apps, we're closing this shit down.
Look at all the open source projects that have closed up, MySQL, Wireshark, etc.
XBox everyone make indie games and we'll let you sell them! Oh, actually not. Sorry. We don't need you anymore.
Google Apps (for your domain) is free, free! Oh, wait no. Just kidding.
This MMORPG is really popular, subscription fees! Oh, we are now not popular, Free to play!
There are two companies that break this rule, and that is why they are consistent favorites. Amazon and Valve. No matter how successful they get, they remain customer-centric.
Excuse me if you've gone over this before, but why? If someone makes exactly what you want in the form factor you want, and we'll assume for the moment that it works well, why wouldn't you pick it up?
It's perfectly reasonable to not buy Sony products. They are beyond greedy in their desire to make every port and every accessory as proprietary as possible. Fuck, even when they properly implement a standard, they can't resist rubbing their mitts all over it. I remember when shopping for Sony video cameras back in the day, Firewire was renamed "i.Link" probably just to confuse old grandmas into buying expensive i.Link cable instead of a generic Firewire.
I'm guessing a Sony phone would not have a USB port, but some proprietary connector (as my wife's point-and-shoot camera inexplicably does), and if there was any sort of expandable storage, it would be expensive bullshit MemoryStick.
I actually ALMOST plopped down some money for a Vita, I don't know why, b/c it was Christmas and I had money burning a hole in my pocket. Amazon had a Vita deal w/ 4 good games bundled for $175, then I realized I'd need to buy a big-ass MemoryStick to make the system useable, rather than using one of the SD cards I have sitting around. Nevermind.
There are still a few titles that Jeremy and I rationalize that it's still worth having a PS3. Also Boo-Ray is Best Ray.
Some PS exclusives:
Kingdom Hearts (Not the poop in betweener/DS verisons) Journey FUCKING Journey. (You can also include Flower & Flow) Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Ratchet and Clank series
VHS lasted from the '70s all the way until the early 2000s. DVD wasn't really big until 2000-2001. Blu-Ray didn't take on until a little bit after HDDVD died in 2008. DVD lasted less than a decade. Blu-Ray is a little over 5 years old, and will be as dead as DVD within three years, tops. You will all be buried in your useless plastic garbage.
I have never bought a Blu-Ray disc, so I won't be buried in anything. I rent Blu-Ray discs from a shop 2 minutes walk from my house for €1 or €1.70. It's easier than searching for downloads, the picture quality is better, and the surround sound always works perfectly, unlike downloaded or streaming media which is (in my experience) either stereo, or only outputs from my various laptops in stereo.
I like physical media for some things, and HD movies are one of them that still make sense (to rent, not to buy).
If I stream video from YouTube, Netflix, or Amazon it is 1080p, same as blu-ray. Surround sound always works if available. If I download a blu-ray rip from Pirate Bay (rarely necessary), it's the same quality as the blu-ray, and sometimes has surround sound. This is what happens when you have a computer properly connected to your television.
If you live somewhere with awesome internet. Many of us are stuck with less than optimal internet. Also streaming 1080p is still compressed. Whether you notice that compression is the issue.
Legally purchasing or streaming stuff in Germany is often a ball-ache, even on small things like making sure the soundtrack is in English. Downloading movies via torrents and other illegal means just isn't fun for me, so I keep it as a last resort...
Wait, I'm having a discussion with Scott about something technological. Why do I even bother? I will always be 100% wrong.
If you live somewhere with awesome internet. Many of us are stuck with less than optimal internet. Also streaming 1080p is still compressed. Whether you notice that compression is the issue.
My Internet is not awesome. It's shitty NYC Time Warner. While many things are slow, the legal streaming seems to work. I suspect non-net neutrality.
Legally purchasing or streaming stuff in Germany is often a ball-ache, even on small things like making sure the soundtrack is in English. Downloading movies via torrents and other illegal means just isn't fun for me, so I keep it as a last resort...
Wait, I'm having a discussion with Scott about something technological. Why do I even bother? I will always be 100% wrong.
Oh riiiight. Gotta check my USA privilege. Thanks for reminding me again why I don't leave despite all our problems.
I'm happy taking a 2 minute walk to a video store if that means I can afford health insurance
I can afford health insurance because I am privileged enough to have a job with enough monies. If that were not the case, then bailing would be a much greater consideration. I also have the genetic privilege of great health.
As a self employed juggler, the only way I could possibly afford my current Berlin lifestyle in New York would be to... well, it just wouldn't be possible. To earn enough to afford an apartment like mine in New York would require me to be away from New York on work trips 365 days a year.
As a self employed juggler, the only way I could possibly afford my current Berlin lifestyle in New York would be to... well, it just wouldn't be possible. To earn enough to afford an apartment like mine in New York would require me to be away from New York on work trips 365 days a year.
You live in a tiny apartment and juggle in a gym nearby.
I have never bought a Blu-Ray disc, so I won't be buried in anything. I rent Blu-Ray discs from a shop 2 minutes walk from my house for €1 or €1.70. It's easier than searching for downloads, the picture quality is better, and the surround sound always works perfectly, unlike downloaded or streaming media which is (in my experience) either stereo, or only outputs from my various laptops in stereo.
I like physical media for some things, and HD movies are one of them that still make sense (to rent, not to buy).
Having a shop does give you some quality control, at least.
Automated Redbox rental machines are fairly ubiquitous here in suburbia, and for a while I was still tempted to rent physical media because they would email me a free 1-day rental code twice per month. There are plenty of great movies I still haven't seen on Netflix, but I was weak, and couldn't pass up the shininess of the new releases. We had a bad run, though, were several times in a row, the disks were too scratched up to read, and we decided it wasn't worth the time and effort for such a crapshoot.
Comments
But SONY is actually something you can miss. There are basically zero exclusive Playstation games worth playing. The few that I've wanted to play ended up being released for PC, or were shit when I got the chance to play them (Shadow of the Colossus).
SONY also has plenty of competitors in every other area of business in which they participate. It's easy to not give SONY money when Samsung exists.
I used to even have a SONY credit card. But since this happened
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal
I got an Amazon credit card and just stopped buying any of their shit. Well, that's not entirely true. I don't check before watching a movie or music to see if it's from SONY. That's just too much effort. And it's rare enough that there's a movie I want to pay moneys for, that I'm not going to skip a good one if they produced it.
Also, I have some $5 sony headphones because whatever, $5. And I will probably try a demo of that new Everquest, but not pay for it.
Yeah, it's impossible to boycott anything.
When you are an underdog you have to be customer centric, open source, user friendly, etc. This is what lets you grow large. Then once you are large and in control, you have to rake in the cash and milk all the users you trapped. You close up, you dick the customer over. Then as the customers slowly flow away, you open back up again and cycle it around. This happens in the macro and the micro.
Look at the history of the Twitter API. OMG do awesome shit with all this data everyone! Oh, too many Twitter apps, we're closing this shit down.
Look at all the open source projects that have closed up, MySQL, Wireshark, etc.
XBox everyone make indie games and we'll let you sell them! Oh, actually not. Sorry. We don't need you anymore.
Google Apps (for your domain) is free, free! Oh, wait no. Just kidding.
This MMORPG is really popular, subscription fees! Oh, we are now not popular, Free to play!
There are two companies that break this rule, and that is why they are consistent favorites. Amazon and Valve. No matter how successful they get, they remain customer-centric.
I'm guessing a Sony phone would not have a USB port, but some proprietary connector (as my wife's point-and-shoot camera inexplicably does), and if there was any sort of expandable storage, it would be expensive bullshit MemoryStick.
I actually ALMOST plopped down some money for a Vita, I don't know why, b/c it was Christmas and I had money burning a hole in my pocket. Amazon had a Vita deal w/ 4 good games bundled for $175, then I realized I'd need to buy a big-ass MemoryStick to make the system useable, rather than using one of the SD cards I have sitting around. Nevermind.
I'm surprised but SONY cameras now actually can use memory sticks OR SD cards. Amazing. I wonder when they started that.
Also, SONY is responsible for Blu-Ray and the perpetuation of physical media, which should die.
Some PS exclusives:
Kingdom Hearts (Not the poop in betweener/DS verisons)
Journey FUCKING Journey. (You can also include Flower & Flow)
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Ratchet and Clank series
I like physical media for some things, and HD movies are one of them that still make sense (to rent, not to buy).
Eventually digital content will beat out physical but for now it does not.
Wait, I'm having a discussion with Scott about something technological. Why do I even bother? I will always be 100% wrong.
Automated Redbox rental machines are fairly ubiquitous here in suburbia, and for a while I was still tempted to rent physical media because they would email me a free 1-day rental code twice per month. There are plenty of great movies I still haven't seen on Netflix, but I was weak, and couldn't pass up the shininess of the new releases. We had a bad run, though, were several times in a row, the disks were too scratched up to read, and we decided it wasn't worth the time and effort for such a crapshoot.
Not the best video but you get the point.
EDIT: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/b011dfd7ee/worst-first-date-ever here's a better one.