Sony's problem is having people around who think storing passwords in the clear is OK.
At the jobs (consulting and otherwise) I've held in the last few years 75% of the companies stored passwords in plaintext. I'm not justifying it in any way shape or form, but Sony shouldn't be singled out. Until there is an immediate and clear financial incentive to use proper security companies are going to continue to ignore it.
Boss: If we don't save passwords, how can we email passwords back when they forget them?
Worker: . . .
Boss: Don't change anything.
Until the people in decision making positions take notice nothing is going to change.