It's official: Sony f'ed up

[Wage Slave]

The thing is the audiophile audiophool market is huge and growing as far as I can see. Technical veracity or real benefit doesn't enter into it and certainly sane pricing doesn't. People do spend 3,500 dollars or much more on a bloody power lead in the belief it magically provides a better sound.

I don't see Sony making a huge amount of money from this kind of thing but I can see it might well be a nice little earner.

Have a look at this site - And it isn't the most extreme I have ever seen by a long way. It's pretty mainstream in that market.

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/power_cable

[Russell]

The thing is the audiophile audiophool market is huge and growing as far as I can see. Technical veracity or real benefit doesn't enter into it and certainly sane pricing doesn't. People do spend 3,500 dollars or much more on a bloody power lead in the belief it magically provides a better sound.

I don't see Sony making a huge amount of money from this kind of thing but I can see it might well be a nice little earner.

Have a look at this site - And it isn't the most extreme I have ever seen by a long way. It's pretty mainstream in that market.

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/power_cable

LOL, I like the 15A to 20A adapter.

[Wage Slave]

The thing is the audiophile audiophool market is huge and growing as far as I can see. Technical veracity or real benefit doesn't enter into it and certainly sane pricing doesn't. People do spend 3,500 dollars or much more on a bloody power lead in the belief it magically provides a better sound.

I don't see Sony making a huge amount of money from this kind of thing but I can see it might well be a nice little earner.

Have a look at this site - And it isn't the most extreme I have ever seen by a long way. It's pretty mainstream in that market.

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/power_cable

LOL, I like the 15A to 20A adapter.

I know. It's truly beyond parody. How about the Acme Audio Myrtlewood Power Connector Tuning Device For The Ultimate Power Cord at a mere 70 dollars. It is a wood collar that fits over the power plug and

"The anti-vibration properties of Myrtle wood offers increased performance by cancellation of induced 60Hz resonance."

[Russell]

The thing is the audiophile audiophool market is huge and growing as far as I can see. Technical veracity or real benefit doesn't enter into it and certainly sane pricing doesn't. People do spend 3,500 dollars or much more on a bloody power lead in the belief it magically provides a better sound.

I don't see Sony making a huge amount of money from this kind of thing but I can see it might well be a nice little earner.

Have a look at this site - And it isn't the most extreme I have ever seen by a long way. It's pretty mainstream in that market.

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/power_cable

LOL, I like the 15A to 20A adapter.

I know. It's truly beyond parody. How about the Acme Audio Myrtlewood Power Connector Tuning Device For The Ultimate Power Cord at a mere 70 dollars. It is a wood collar that fits over the power plug and

"The anti-vibration properties of Myrtle wood offers increased performance by cancellation of induced 60Hz resonance."

Yes, that is a classic too. The additional description is also fun.

Easy two screw installation.

Didn't they mean "Easy-to-screw customers"?

Actually Myrtlewood has quite an interesting use in some parts of the US as money:

"Myrtlewood" is the only wood still in use as a base "metal" for legal tender.[21] During the 1933 "interregnum of despair" between Franklin Roosevelt's election and his inauguration, the only bank in the town of North Bend, Oregon—the First National—was forced to temporarily close its doors, precipitating a cash-flow crisis for the City of North Bend. The city solved this problem by minting its own currency, using myrtlewood discs printed on a newspaper press. These coins, in denominations from 25 cents to $10, were used to pay employees, with the city promising to redeem them for cash as soon as it became available.

However, when the bank reopened and the city appealed for people to bring their myrtlewood money in to redeem it, many opted to keep their tokens as collector's items. After several appeals, the city announced that the tokens would remain legal tender in the city of North Bend in perpetuity. The unredeemed tokens have become very valuable, because of scarcity and historical interest. Fewer than 10 full sets are believed to exist.

[Mike Oxlong]

WikiLeaks publishes 30,000 leaked Sony documents

WikiLeaks on Thursday published a searchable database of more than 30,000 documents and 173,000 emails leaked from the Sony Pictures Entertainment breach last year.

WikiLeaks, which publishes leaked, secret and classified information, posted the files in an easily searchable format.

It said they were important to keep in the public eye because of Sony's ties to the White House, its extensive lobbying efforts on behalf of copyright law as well as its "connections to the US military-industrial complex," the group said in a release on its site.

In a statement, Sony said it "vehemently disagrees" with the assertion that the material belongs in the public domain.

"The cyber-attack on Sony Pictures was a malicious criminal act, and we strongly condemn the indexing of stolen employee and other private and privileged information on WikiLeaks. The attackers used the dissemination of stolen information to try to harm SPE and its employees, and now WikiLeaks regrettably is assisting them in that effort," the statement read.

The Culver City, Calif.-based company's website was crippled beginning Thanksgiving day of 2014 by hackers who also stole files and emails.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015 ... /25893133/

[kurogane]

I always thought Wikileaks was mostly an internet troll bully programme.........and now I know for sure.

I wonder how many of the Wikileakers were in the AV or Dungeons and Dragons clubs in high school and got mugged for their lunch money? They should publicly beat Assange every time they pull these pissy pranks.

[Coligny]

Take ? You have two accounts here ?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Take ? You have two accounts here ?

Seriously. Guy is more fucked up than I thought.

[Takechanpoo]

huh? which one you think another mine?

[SovietSupreme]

3:21 AM - 22 Apr 2015
Harebrained US lawyers threaten DPRK with imbecilic claims on behalf of Japanese warlord corporation Sony.
Korean Peoples Army stands ready!

[Taro Toporific]

If you flip the sony logo and cut it in half you get...

sony-logo.jpg

via

[Takechanpoo]

Sharp to force their employees to buy Sharp's goods

executives : ones equivalent to 200,000 yen
middle managers : 100,000 yen
general staffs : 50,000 yen

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/201511 ... 50002.html

[Samurai_Jerk]

Sharp to force their employees to buy Sharp's goods

executives : ones equivalent to 200,000 yen
middle managers : 100,000 yen
general staffs : 50,000 yen

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/201511 ... 50002.html

Holy shit. Is that legal?

[Coligny]

Sharp to force their employees to buy Sharp's goods

executives : ones equivalent to 200,000 yen
middle managers : 100,000 yen
general staffs : 50,000 yen

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/201511 ... 50002.html

Toyota sells silver cars. News at 11

[matsuki]

Sharp to force their employees to buy Sharp's goods

executives : ones equivalent to 200,000 yen
middle managers : 100,000 yen
general staffs : 50,000 yen

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/economy/201511 ... 50002.html

Holy shit. Is that legal?

Whether it is or not, there is probably some "Japanese loophole" mentality to it. Something like, it's not mandatory but everyone is going to know who does it or not and then be bullied into compliance. Just like the Uni staff I know that were "requested" to make donations to the university What I'm more curious is if anyone has ever had the balls to sue a company that pulled this shit on them. There has to be some disgruntled Osaka baba that fought back somewhere.

BTW, I love SHARP displays...the TV's have always been awesome as has their plasma cluster tech. The SHARP fridge, washer/dryer combo, and numerous keitais over the years....not so much.

[JAVGOD]

Time to see if Toshiba is hiring.

[Russell]

I am all for it, so those Sharp employees can experience personally how shitty their products are.

And how do they check? Do they sell the products directly to them?

If so, are their after-checks, to confirm that the employees didn't sell their Giri-Reizoko on Yahoo Auction?

[wagyl]

And how do they check? Do they sell the products directly to them?

If you read the article, there is a special site which employees buy the products through. The company is also paying a whole 2% of the purchase price as an incentive!

As far as on-selling goes, I don't know why the company should care so much. They have got their sales, even if some other sales are slightly cannibalised.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Isn't this パワハラ?

[wagyl]

I'm not entirely sure where you draw that line. What do you call sales quotas? Is that power harassment of salespeople?

Strange things happen in the Japanese corporate world, and some companies are strangely conservative. In at least one car making group's companies, the car park you are allocated, even as a visitor, depends on the make of car you drive.

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

The car park situation is common for a lot of makers around the world, not just Japan. The sales/lease agreements are pretty good though.
It is not compulsory but I've been in some places where you would be parking at least 200m from the main entrance gate.
In Japan it used to be the case you had to have the makers vehicle (excluding large trucks) if you were entering into the factory grounds but of late it hasn't been enforced as much outside of one particular white goods producer.

[kurogane]

Isn't this パワハラ?

Yes.............er....................no.

From TC's link:

シャープは、家電部門を担当する長谷川祥典専務執行役員名で文書を配布し、「厳しい難局を乗り切れるよう協力してほしい」と呼びかけている。

I don't disagree with Takechin's translation or interpretation of the true meaning, btw. But yeah........no. There is no compulsive element outside of the compulsive element that is not compulsive but exhortative. It is an energetic appeal for all Sharp employees to raise their awareness of mindful pizza time.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Isn't this パワハラ?

Yes.............er....................no.

From TC's link:

シャープは、家電部門を担当する長谷川祥典専務執行役員名で文書を配布し、「厳しい難局を乗り切れるよう協力してほしい」と呼びかけている。

I don't disagree with Takechin's translation or interpretation of the true meaning, btw. But yeah........no. There is no compulsive element outside of the compulsive element that is not compulsive but exhortative. It is an energetic appeal for all Sharp employees to raise their awareness of mindful pizza time.

That's what I'm talking about. You know people who don't "volunteer" are going to be fucked. Just like people who have the audacity to take their vacation days.

[kurogane]

Yeah, I got what you meant.......and yes. But relying on the heartfulness of mindful pizza time avoids the issue of legal compulsion required to make it Hara of any sort. Very inscrutable..........

I think I used to have a Sharp PC notebook, it seemed to work. Plus that weird though ingratiating loyalty thing they have does make buying your benefactor's products seem reasonable enough. If this were the 1960s.............. Perhaps there will be a spike in the sales of fax machines, which could help fuel further multipliers in this newfangled electronic economy? They used to make good ones. Perhaps even an internet capable fax machine?

[Coligny]

The car park situation is common for a lot of makers around the world, not just Japan. The sales/lease agreements are pretty good though.
It is not compulsory but I've been in some places where you would be parking at least 200m from the main entrance gate.
In Japan it used to be the case you had to have the makers vehicle (excluding large trucks) if you were entering into the factory grounds but of late it hasn't been enforced as much outside of one particular white goods producer.

And for Totoya doctors subcontracted for health check or doctorish stuff where paid fuel expense only if driving a Totoya. Good luck having them switch from a Krauter to a Corolla for gas monies...

[matsuki]

The car park situation is common for a lot of makers around the world, not just Japan. The sales/lease agreements are pretty good though.
It is not compulsory but I've been in some places where you would be parking at least 200m from the main entrance gate.
In Japan it used to be the case you had to have the makers vehicle (excluding large trucks) if you were entering into the factory grounds but of late it hasn't been enforced as much outside of one particular white goods producer.

I can understand this as it's a pretty visible statement to both visitors and employees....and (at least in the US) many companies tend to offer real employee discounts.....but 2%? off retail? WTF?

[BigInJapan]

And how do they check? Do they sell the products directly to them?

If you read the article, there is a special site which employees buy the products through. The company is also paying a whole 2% of the purchase price as an incentive!

As far as on-selling goes, I don't know why the company should care so much. They have got their sales, even if some other sales are slightly cannibalised.

I used to work for a major J electronics maker (rhymes with tannin), and they had a special employee site where you could buy last year's models etc. Purchases were not mandatory, and the company does not have an actual employee discount on new merchandise. Even the old stock available on the employee site was rarely cheaper than the best prices on kakaku.com I know a couple of people that work at Sony, and AFAIK they don't get a discount either.

[Taro Toporific]

Nintendo worth more than Sony after Pokemon rally
gulfnews.com | 19 July 2016
Nintendo on Tuesday shot past Sony in market value after shares in the video game giant more than doubled following the release of its wildly popular Pokemon Go game.
The shares surged more than 14 per cent to end at 31,770 yen (Dh1,100 or $300), up 120 per cent from their July 6 close.
That put Nintendo’s market capitalisation at 4.5 trillion yen ($42.5 billion) — making it more valuable than Sony, one of Japan’s best-known companies by about 400 billion yen. ...more...

Pikachu-laughing.gif

[kurogane]

That's actually rather sad in most ways. Does Nintendo make anything but childrens' games?

[FG Lurker]

Nintendo seems to have finally woken up to the idea of making money instead of making hardware. They have a lot of franchises loved by a lot of people, I hope they work to monetize more of it on mobile platforms.