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CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XXI : Gates tells consumers to ditch DRMed tunes, buy CDs
For our latest episode of CE-Oh No He Didn't, we turn to a perennial favorite: Bill Gates. At a recent blogger event (read: junket) up in Redmond, Gates apparently told the audience that DRM has "huge problems" (despite the fact that his company is one of its biggest proponents). Bill's a smart guy and his belief in DRM's suckiness isn't all that shocking, but even we were taken aback when he suggested picking up a freshly wrapped compact disc instead of pointing your interests towards his own company's music store, or in his words: "People should just buy a CD and rip it. You are legal then." Say, doesn't the RIAA seem to disagree with Mr. Gates' assessment, given that it still views ripping CDs has being sorta, um, illegal? And doesn't Microsoft go out of its way to break precedent by ponying up cash on Zune sales to RIAA cartel commander Universal Music? We realize there's only so much dogfooding one can do before going off the deep end, and we don't necessarily expect Bill to agree with every decision Microsoft makes. But what gets us here is that this is such a subtle and tacit admission of defeat at the hands of the record industry. The man DOES carry a Zune, and the man does actually listen to music on it, but maybe he doesn't realize that Microsoft could have held the power to strike a blow in the RIAA's armor and change things for the better for consumers -- Zune carrying consumers, like even he.
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XX - Warner Music CEO "fairly certain" his kids pirate music
We're going to assume you're well versed with the RIAA, just about the most god-forsaken industry group that ever did roam the earth (much like its unofficial partner in crime, the MPAA); and more importantly for the purposes of this post, Warner Music, one of the four major labels, which all, incidentally, back the RIAA. So what did Edgar Bronfman, CEO of Warner Music, have to say when questioned as to whether any of his seven kids pirate music? "I'm fairly certain that they have, and I'm fairly certain that they've suffered the consequences." Funny, we haven't heard about any inter-familial lawsuits involving Bronfman sr. v. Bronfman jr. concerning definitions in fair use and music piracy. In fact, given that he knows what pirates live in his house using his internet connection, it should only follow that he sue his children into eternal debt (not before having Warner Music shut off their household internet connection at the ISP level). After all, what's good for the goose is good -- ah forget it. Every time we try to apply logic and reason to the executives behind the RIAA our brains do a zero divide.You, Bronfman! Monday at four o'clock, after school. Be there, punk.[Thanks, Josh]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XIX - Watkins says Seagate "helps people buy crap... and watch porn"
Unexpected candidness is a recurring theme of our CE-Oh no! series of posts, but this latest example from Bill Watkins, the CEO of Seagate, truly takes the biscuit. At a recent corporate dinner in San Francisco, the Texan CEO produced a quotable line edgy enough to give any PR people in the immediate vicinity an instant heart attack. In his exact words: "Let's face it, we're not changing the world. We're building a product that helps people buy more crap - and watch porn." We're gonna have to give the guy a break for two reasons: a) alcohol was readily available, and b), all those naughty digital photos have gotta be stored somewhere, and Seagate is in the digital storage business. Besides, the rest of Watkin's quotes are relatively thought provoking: his views on media distribution ("It's the content that's important"), Dell's problems -- no, not those ones -- ("They don't understand the consumer"), and other areas of the technology industry appear to be fresh and honest. Maybe just a bit too honest this time around.
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XVIII - Gates sez Sony "bricks" would sell well
While we aren't sure if this is just another lashing from the lingering bitterness ole Bill is surely feeling from Sony's most recent criticisms, Mr. Gates has unwillingly volunteered himself for yet another episode of CE-Oh no he didn't. Shortly after praising Apple's iPod, he apparently felt a few brash phrases were in order to bring the world back into balance, and balance he did. In an interview with CNET, Microsoft's chairman explained that he knew very well the pain "of being a year late" -- presumably in regard to how belated the Zune is in hitting the iPod-filled DAP market -- but continued on by stating that he "wouldn't change positions with Sony in a million years" when referring to the Xbox 360's head start in the next generation console race. But fun and games turned staid when Gates remarked that "Sony could make 80,000 bricks, and people would buy them." While we can't quite decipher the true meaning of "bricks," we're fully aware that the stakes have been raised once again, but Sony might try fixing a few lingering problems of its own before crafting a rebuttal this time around.[Via 1UP]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XV: Sony Australia exec calls the Wii "a bit pricey"
Welcome back to CE-Oh no he didn't, the game show where company executives get to mouth off about something that surely won't make their bosses happy. This week, we're playing with Michael Ephraim, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, who made a very insightful comment recently about the pricing of a rival product. Now, while prospective buyers have grumbled at the high price (AU$1000, or $743) of the PS3, Ken Kutaragi, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment, has maintained that the company's latest console is "probably too cheap," but acknowledges that it's a "expensive toy" -- although to be fair, Sony did just drop the price in Japan. Well, it appears that Kutaragi's minions don't necessarily agree with his assessment, or at least Ephraim appears not to. He recently told The Age (Melbourne's major metropolitan daily) his opinion of the Nintendo Wii, which will retail for AU$400 ($297):"My only question for this Christmas on Wii is the price point. Even though it's affordable, at $400 plus whatever you need to buy accessories-wise, I'm guessing you need to spend about $500 to take home a Wii and enjoy it. For this Christmas, I think that price point is still not family entertainment because $500 is a lot to fork out . . . I think the price for what it specifically does as a video games machine is a bit pricey, but I think that their strategy long term we have great respect for."So by that logic, mate, the AU$1000 PS3 will be what, exactly -- really frickin' expensive? Not to mention it'll be even more than AU$1000 when it comes with all its accessories too, y'know? So that makes your PS3 even more than twice as much as the Wii, which you say is "a bit pricey?" Mike, wouldn't you think that would mean that you'd want to, um, perhaps bring the price a bit down? Can't you call up your buddy Kenji and tell him what you told those Aussie reporters? Or maybe perhaps your colleague across the Pacific, the Kazmeister? C'mon, you guys could set up a meeting in somewhere convenient for all of you (say, Honolulu?) and work out the details. Then everyone would be happy, especially us lowly consumers. [Via Joystiq]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XV - Europeans "don't mind" waiting for Sony products
Alright Sony, this is just getting ridiculous. It's not like you guys haven't been a featured guest in this series before, but we had no idea it was such an honor. The third "CE-Oh no" moment for Sony this week came out of the mouth of SCE World Europe VP, Jamie MacDonald, who was asked: "What would you say to consumers who like Sony and want to buy your products, but perhaps feel that because they're in Europe they're always last in line?" Apparently Jamie feels little love for his whiny constituency, since his clueless response was thus: "European consumers have shown that historically they don't mind that, because they end up buying as many PlayStations, if not more, than the US and Japan. In Europe, it doesn't seem that the release of our platforms after the US and Japan - in the long run - affects how consumers feel." We're not even sure how to respond to that, so we'll continue with more "CE-Oh no" sound bite gold from our pal Jamie. In response to a query about Sony's UMD failure, he stated: "I think you'll find in general the market for movies on discs of any type is not particularly great at the moment." Again, we really have nothing to add, so we'll just hit up one more sound bite for good time's sake. When asked about the Wii60 concept, where prospective next-gen buyers compare the price of purchasing an Xbox 360 and a Nintendo Wii to the cost of the PS3 alone, Jamie further demonstrated his ignorance: "To be honest, I haven't heard that." Not a banner day for Sony PR by a long shot, but at least they're not trying to hide their seeming disdain for consumers and plain logic.[Thanks, Xavier G.]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XIV : Lack of rumble keeps PS3 controller "affordable"
It's time again for one of our favorite segments, CE-Oh no he didn't! For this week's episode, we're going to talk a little bit about the PS3. Now, we all know that the new PS3 isn't going bring the rumble to our favorite upcoming Sony gaming console. But what we didn't know was why -- yes, yes there were claims that it had to do with interference of motion sensing, or lawsuits from Immersion, but we hadn't gotten a clear reason straight from the horse's mouth, particularly when surveys suggest fans would be willing to pay for it. However, a recent interview by GameDaily Biz with SCEA prez Kaz Hirai says that it's yet another reason altogether:"Is it technically feasible? Absolutely. But the balancing act that you need to do, is to be able to present the controller to the consumer at an affordable price." Affordable? Please. Joystiq points out that a G-Pad Pro for the PS2, which has motion sensing and vibration, costs $30, a whole Lincoln higher than the Dual Shock. C'mon Kaz, can't you at least be straight with us? Now of course, this is from the same folks who said that just a few months ago said that the $500 PS3 was "too cheap," and is well worth the markup compared to the Wii, but backtracked when the company recently dropped the price in Japan. Maybe that means the prices of the controllers are going to come down too?[Via Joystiq]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XIII - Kutaragi sez Sony doesn't care about PS3 rivals
When asked the other day whether Sony's rivals will outstrip the PS3, Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi merely replied: "We do not care." Closely echoing the sentiments of David Reeves of Sony Europe, this really explains so much about this product. We just wish we'd known sooner so we hadn't given them as much flack about it -- who knew they weren't playing to win? Strangely enough, Kutaragi fessed up to problems with production in the same interview, saying "Right now, it is an issue, because we can't manufacture enough blue laser diodes for our PlayStation 3s. But we will resolve that." No hurry though, right? It's not like those rivals of yours are going to do something like steal valuable market share in the meantime, or pricing their consoles competitively or anything crazy like that.[Via Joystiq]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XII - Kiloo exec extolls virtues of crack cocaine business model
We usually don't have to wait long for some tech industry exec to give us new fodder for CE-Oh no he didn't!, and Karl Woods, pusherman/Executive Vice President of sales and marketing for mobile developer and publisher Kiloo delivered the goods earlier this week. He decided we should witness the strength of his street knowledge by comparing his job of marketing mobile games to, and we're quoting here, "the crack cocaine model." (Could someone tell him that his company is named "Kiloo," not "Kilo"?) Says Woods: "You offer the customer a free rock, and they get hooked. That's what we're going to have to do with the 90 per cent. But everyone has to do it, the whole industry has to try and crack this, or we'll just keep fighting over that 10 percent."We feel you, Karl. All the crackhouses on our block learned years ago how to stop fighting over that 10 percent and go after the mass market. [Via MoCoNews]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part X - Hirai tired of Microsoft copycats
We're quickly learning that the real gold mine of our CE-Oh no he didn't! posts is Sony, home to blustering executives prone to spewing a seemingly never ending stream of pithy, entertaining commentary on the industry as their flagship game and media device lapses further and further into delay. Up on the chopping block today is Hirai-san, SCEA President who told PlayStation Magazine the following:"Every time we go down a path, we look behind and [Microsoft is] right there - we just can't shake these guys. I wish that they would come up with some strategies of their own, but they seem to be going down the path of everything we do. If you look at their strategy in other business areas as well, they tend to do that."Really, Sony? Microsoft follows you around? Wait, didn't Sony shun Microsoft's tiered console pricing scheme, only to adopt it in the PS3? And wasn't the PlayStation originally only a response to their failed partnership with Nintendo? And wasn't the PSP merely a response to the hegemonic success of the Game Boy? And what about the new motion controller developers told us was a last minute feature creep to counter Nintendo's Wiimote? And the PS3 online service, slated for introduction long after Xbox Live? Sorry guys, you're not winning any hearts and minds when you try to pull the hype-woven wool over the everybody's eyes.
