Right up front I'll say that the Sony Corporation is one of my least favorite companies in the entire world. The sneaky and underhanded way that they managed to damage so many home computers by loading spyware, and worse, from some of their new CDs last year made me swear off their products as much as I can. The one exception I've made in recent months was to buy one of their eReaders and I only bought that from Sony because no other company is really marketing one of those gizmos just yet. But when I can find a substitute brand for anything Sony, I jump all over it.Sony showed no remorse for all the problems caused by their "copy protection" software and only responded at all when the internet became filled with stories of CDs that wouldn't play on computers and the software that caused other computers to crash. Sony finally came up with a very lame settlement offer that required the company to give thousands of free CDs to various libraries (CDs that had been sitting largely unwanted in warehouses for months or years) and to replace the encrypted CDs that the company had foisted on its customers.
So the news that Sony Italy has been providing Italian school kids with fake book covers in which to hide their game players doesn't really surprise me at all.
This really tickled us here at Pocket-lint.co.uk, although we are taking it with a pinch of salt.Indeed.
Apparently Sony Italy has been providing Italian schools kids with sham books that allow them to play their PSPs secretly behind the cover.
The title is Dante's "The Divine Comedy" and even includes the "Cliff Notes" version of the book, so PSP slackers can bluff basic info should they be called on to do so.
A fine example of corporate responsibility…
Maybe I'm losing my sense of humor but this just strikes me as another example of the irresponsible way that Sony markets its products...just another reason that my personal Sony boycott will continue. (I still feel bad about giving Sony my money for the eReader, so don't rub it in.)
So how do you like the eReader? I've been considering the possbility myself and would be interested to know your thoughts.
ReplyDeletePS: I'm new to your site - hello and great work here!
I agree that Sony has done some stupid thinks recently and continues to make poor decisions. But I'm not too concerned about this one. Maybe it's because I enjoy video games myself. I don't think anyone would be fooled by this unless their eyesight isn't too great. In addition, I hardly ever read novels in class and the class would have to be reading this specific book.
ReplyDeleteHi, artist. Glad you dropped by. I like the eReader a lot but it took a bit of getting used to. I've read a couple of books off it now and I like knowing that I can carry dozens of books with me in such a small package. It comes in handy for waiting rooms and other lines, even for bad traffic jams. Before I bought it I was under the impression that it had a search function. I was disappointed to find that wasn't the case but I'm still happy that I have a reader.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, Matt. If it were any other company but Sony I would probably have not even read the original piece. But Sony has irritated me so many times now that I can't ignore the clowns.
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