kwc

New Sony "mp3" player

Wired is calling it a "credible competitor," and while it is sexy, svelte, and all the other physical adjectives you might want in a portable music player, it still sucks in everyway that I have ranted that Sony's current generation of music players sucks, and I even have a new word for it: muda.

I learned this Japanese word yesterday at our all hands meeting, and it means waste, inefficient, unnecessary, an activity without value. Businesses use it to describe the processes that need to be streamlined or eliminated. I think it describes the Sony experience perfectly.

It's not an mp3 player as you still have to do the slow/stupid/inefficient/wasteful ATRAC conversion. It also still relies on the screen-wasting Sony Connect music player software for your computer that can't seem to do anything right.

If Sony focused on removing the muda from the user experience, they could have a great product, but they insist on continuing to focus on features that have negative value to the consumer and software that is bloated in every possible way except for functionality.

- Another photo of Sony’s NW-HD1 Network Walkman
- Sony Japan Press Release