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Sony of the late 70s early 80s was different.

You don't remember how bad everyone else's industrial design and build quality was compared to Sony - it was like Audi or BMW in a world of Buicks.

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I feel like Sony hardware has almost always been really good and, for the most part, still is today. Sony software though... not so much. Which worked fine for decades where their products didn't include any software, but it puts them in a really bad place in a world where software quality has become at least as important as hardware quality. I don't know what I'd do if I were in charge of Sony, though - you can't just mandate "we're going to become great at software."

yes - the software is the most horrible code you can get - I bought the most expensive notebook Sony has and the only way to make it usable is to deinstall everything from Sony, I bought a Sony reader - the Reader Software is the most horrible rubbish... I bought a Sony camera ... it's unbelievable - but I think it shows what makes Apple different - they do both. There are not many companies who manage to be good at software and hardware. Maybe there is some startup advice in this: Don't try to be a software and hardware company. You double your complexity.

This. People don't understand how revolutionary some of the products were in that era, especially the cheap, light, and high-fidelity headphones that made the Walkman possible.

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