Let’s start with Sony. Crappy Sony. Unfaithful Sony. Insecure Sony.
That sparked some interest, didn’t it? Insecure Sony? We all know what has happened with the PlayStation Network (PSN) and the Sony Entertainment Network (SEN), who make those useless Facebook games. If not, let m fill you in: Once upon a time, there were a few million users on the PSN and the SEN. One day, an evil (or in my opinion, appreciated) group of witches (hackers) who broke into the house of the PSN/SEN and stole everything (yes, everything, including credit cards). PSN/SEN were very sad and told no one for 3 days, until guests started to complain. And the story goes on and on, but its becoming weird typing in a Disney fairytale way.
You would have expected Sony to be more careful with consumer info, but no. They left it on a server, which hackers got into. I have to, even though it pains me to do so, give Microsoft credit here, as they have not had any major breaches on the Xbox Live service to date. Keep it up: at least Microsoft is doing something good for once.
My last Sony rant is on the Ericson line. Sony had a good thing going there, amazing battery, appealing design and everything else you would expect a normal phone to have. Then, they released the Xperia X1. My dad got it free from Vodafone. I tell you, It was worse than the Apple Newton. No main menu, cluttered interface, the terrible physical keyboard and the worse thing, it was running Windows Mobile 6.3. (You will see more of that later). Sony lost badly in the smartphone market, and it will take them a long, long time to get to that position of the best phone maker, where they once were.
In my last Sony rant, I talked about how Sony was destined for failure. Now I tell all the PSN/SOE users, who had the guts to give their credit card info to Sony, my favorite quote: I TOLD YOU SO!
I love being right.
One more small transitional story from Sony to Microsoft. The Sony Vaio laptop of my friend, Jack. U (www.jackusher.co.uk) died, completely, after a life of being thrown around and bashed up. He took it to PC World, who told him that the issue was the CPU and GPU (brains of the computer). After a bit of troubleshooting on my part combined with his know-how, we concluded that it was a problem with software not hardware. PC World wanted to charge a grand for repairing all the hardware, while he could easily do it himself for free. The moral of the story? Sony laptops are unreliable and that most PC repair shops are crooks, while all mac repair shops have to be authorized by Apple. There you have it, a solid PC Vs. Apple argument.
Moving on, I have already given some credit to Microsoft for the Xbox Live service, but now its time for me to laugh at them, alongside all the Microsoft haters and, if you are a Microsoft lover, I guarantee that you will also be laughing with us after this. If not, complain. Send an email. Sent me an @mention (or any manifestation of that name). I shall read it, consider it, ponder on it and ignore it (unless it’s a persuasive argument). Try me. Just try me…
Anyway, Look at this video and you will see what I am talking about.
What is this guy thinking? He is the new CEO of Microsoft, in case you do not know. “We have great Windows Mobile Phones”? WHAT? Windows mobile 6.3 was complete dogpoop (refraining from swearing). I can say this because I used a Windows Mobile Phone for 1 year. It was the worst phone ever, and it cost £400, equivalent of $750 at the time, so he can’t talk! Also, no one in the world like those crappy physical keyboards, which are impossible to use if you have a big thumb, like me. Now think about this, 4 years after the iPhone, Microsoft make a Windows Phone 7 (which, as I have said is very capable) costing £500, equivalent to $800 today, so I say to Steve Ballmer: SHUT UP!
The problem is the fact that Steve Ballmer does not get what people want, as he thinks like a business person. That is why Microsoft are so big in the business industry. Steve Jobs, however, gets people, evident in the iPad and iPhone.
One more fun fact: Microsoft will release a tablet OS in LATE 2012. By that time, everyone will have an iPad or an Android Honeycomb tablet, so Microsoft are screwed in the tablet industry.
I actually liked the relationship between Apple and Microsoft up to 1997, where Bill Gates was in charge. It was not one of rivalry, but working together to help the industry, evident in the 1997 Apple-Microsoft deal (apart from the fact that Internet Explorer became the default browser on the Mac for a while). Microsoft saved Apple, and I am very grateful to Bill Gates for doing so.
To conclude, I liked Microsoft under Bill Gates; they were a company willing to work with Apple as partners, not competitors. Steve Ballmer has changed the face of Microsoft for the worse, and it will be a long road to recovery, if Microsoft ever start walking. (notice metaphor)
