Oddly, this doesn't come as a surprise

[unixronin]

At a breakfast Thursday cohosted by the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and The New Yorker, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton told the audience his not-so-inner thoughts about the Internet.

“I’m a guy who doesn’t see anything good having come from the Internet... (The Internet) created this notion that anyone can have whatever they want at any given time. It’s as if the stores on Madison Avenue were open 24 hours a day. They feel entitled. They say, ‘Give it to me now,’ and if you don’t give it to them for free, they’ll steal it.”

“What we have here is a failure to communicate ... er ... adapt.” — Not Quite Cool Hand Luke

Comments

Translation:

[ithildae]

The internet caught us by surprise. The technology is totally disruptive to our business model. We have no plans to adapt, and we have no clue how to capitalize on the new technology. Other than our lobbying efforts and legal initiatives, our company will not do anything about the internet. Thank $DEITY that Sony has a manufacturing division. If you were expecting continuing profits from our music and motion picture production, you are deluding yourself. Now would be a good time to sell stock.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

At what point do you finally admit that the technology is disruptive to your business model, and you need to adapt or die? (Embracing it seems to be a non-starter.)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

At this point, I don't believe that the entertainment industry as it now exists can.

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

Perhaps that is because they've spent so many millions of dollars buying changes in copy-wrong laws to "protect their right to profit off of their investments".

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

The problem is that they are starting to lose artists willing to publish under their regime. When they can't control output, and they can't get talented input, it won't matter how many laws they have changed.

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

Thus be it always unto tyrants (or in this case, union leaders).

Of course, I realize that unions DO have their place, but what went wrong (IMHO) was that they out-lived their purpose, and had no other purpose, so they became a paper tiger hiding a toothless parasite.

[nephthys510.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with wanting something now?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

BAD CONSUMER! Sony will tell you what you want, when you want it, and where you want to watch/listen to it. You exist to serve Sony and FOR NO OTHER REASON, so don't go getting radical terroristic ideas like free will. All will is Sony's. So-called free will is THEFT!

[brownkitty.livejournal.com]

Sony of Borg?

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

I did laugh. :) But sorry Mo if they were Borg they'd steal all the GOOD tech. :-P This disqualifies Microsoft as well as they only steal from or eat the weak.

I know this can't be because Sony threw enough money at blu-ray adopters to get it made the whirled standard that they should be in jail for bribery or elected president. blu-ray is a locked down techie hating standard just like DVD but on nazi supers soldier drugs.

I know this can't be because their tech SUCKS. They have fallen hard and really don't even have a name anymore. The pinnacle of their products was pre-95-97. They started farming out their 'lesser' products to any third world country they could.

I recall buying a brand new Sony picture tube and installing it for a customer only to have it die just after the warranty on it expired.

I recall buying a US remanufactured picture tube done in Kentucky and the person still had it running well in 2000 some 5 years after I'd installed it. Same model Sony set and installed approximately the same year In both cases I gave the customers the option of a New Sony or a rebuilt one.

I recall going into Circuit City sometime after 2000 and being shocked at the lousy quality of their televisions. When a Samsung and a Sony sit side by side and the Sony is the one you ignore they've failed.

In 1983 I bought a Sony TV from Circuit City. It was 700 dollars plus tax. I carried it up four floors because the elevator was broken and finally got to my barracks room. I had that television until around 99. As of 2000 or so it was still working.

Yea, I was a fan....

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Their monitors went to hell as well. I have a Sony GDM-500PS that I bought sometime back in the 90s that is still working fine. I also have a much newer GDM-5410 (full deflection, totally flat screen) that was new in box when I got it in 2005; by 2007-2008, the black level had drifted to the point that black was medium grey and everything on screen was faded and washed out. Last year, I found a technique whereby with some not-publicly-available software, and a specially made cable, and a little trial and error, it's possible to recalibrate the black level somewhere back close to factory specs. I did so, and managed to get at least fairly decent blacks back, at the cost of some brightness and saturation. By this Spring it had drifted back to where I started. I'm told it's a design flaw in the entire Sony FD line, and they all do it. Sony used to make excellent VCRs, too; they still sell one or two models, but they're cheap plastic crap.

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

You could possibly find someone with a Sencore picture tube rejuvinator that actually has the adapter for that. I think they were or are the last manufacturer of those. They were also the best. It's around 50+ to get it done, spendy and you pay up front.

If it actually works it will last from 76ms to a year. (1995 or earlier) 10 year old barely gasping Sony tubes would perk right up and work for 3 or more years. Pre-86 or so.

You can thump the tube some by shorting across each output transistor in turn. (power off, short, power on with video).

That causes beam current to go to the max and usually engages the safety circuit. Not good to do all three as it can crack the neck of the tube on startup. Electron beam weapon time.

I've fixed some of their 3 year wonders that way and they average about a year. I scrounged thrift stores, fixed them then sold them. It was after my time fixing TV's as a job but Sony 36" ones were crapping out en masse.

Sony VCR's are a name that you've probably never heard of. I am blanking on their name. I bought a Zenith with Sony guts which was the licensing scheme that killed betamax and used ONE tape with it. For 3 years and constantly recorded and watched stuff. Sold it and the capstan motor blew. Found out they'd sprayed something in it to clean it. I even recorded some games while being played on the C64 on it.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

You could possibly find someone with a Sencore picture tube rejuvinator that actually has the adapter for that. I think they were or are the last manufacturer of those. They were also the best. It's around 50+ to get it done, spendy and you pay up front.

Sounds like by the time I pay for round-trip shipping on an 80lb monitor and "rejuvenation", I'm most of the way to a brand-new LCD monitor. For $229 er ... $220, I can have my choice of a 23" LG 1920x1080 LCD monitor with 50000:1 contrast ratio or a 23" Samsung 2048x1152 with 20000:1 contrast. (And actually, the LG has a $20-off promo until May 25.) Spending probably more than half that to get an extra year of life on a power-hungry CRT doesn't seem like it'd be a good deal.

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

Someone local....

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Hmmm ..... Possible, depending on the value of "local". There's damned few consumer electronics repair shops left out there these days. I remember when I tried to find a place to get my first Pioneer DVD player repaired ... couldn't find a place willing to look at it for what it would have cost me to just buy a new one. Consumer electronics these days are so highly integrated repair is seldom cost-effective. But sometimes it's exactly the small towns like Laconia, with no big electronics stores in the area, where the odd repair shop is still hanging on.

At this point I've more or less written off the monitor anyway. I'd sooner put the money towards replacing another of our CRTs with an LCD, especially if I can only expect to get another year out of it. Still, I appreciate the tip.

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

The rejuvinator isn't really worth it. It's a crap shoot.

The free fix is try the shorting trick. But film it because if it goes it goes very well.

Prior to doing that I can write up an examination guide that might help. Let me know.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

But film it because if it goes it goes very well.

As in "Y'all hold mah beer and watch this now"? ;)

What does shorting the power transistors actually do in this case? I always thought it was usually considered a Bad Idea.

[mrmeval.livejournal.com]

You're bridging the cathode to ground. Beam current will go to the maximum the tube is capable of. This will try to produce soft X rays but a pick off from the HV transformer will monitor current and shut it down. There are several other redundant safeties.

But...
If you see something like this I'd probably have to have a schematic to figure out how to do it right.
http://www.national.com/opf/LM/LM2453.html

[luxobscura.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what the hell happened? I bought a Sony receiver, cd player and cassette deck (lower end individual components)back in 1993. They stayed powered on for about 15 years, never a problem, and these were "entry level" models. the only thing that killed the CD player was that eventually the gears started slipping on the tray and it couldn't eject.

Now, I wouldn't touch them with any more fondness than any other no-name Chinese plastic mass production crap.

[luxobscura.livejournal.com]

She's just not getting the whole Japanese "The Company Knows Best" thing.

Americans...