Mossberg Reviews Sony Network Walkman; iPod Still It But...

[Arel]

Interesting read! Mr. Mossberg points out that the Sony NW beats the iPod on two fronts but other than those two, it's the iPod all the way.

Sony's iPod Killer
By WALTER S. MOSSBERG, Wall Street Journal

Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod digital music player has fended off every rival product handily, not only remaining the most popular digital music player, but becoming a cultural icon and spawning an industry of accessories and of legal music downloads.

Next month, however, the iPod will face its most potent competitor. This latest challenger is none other than Sony Corp., the Japanese giant that revolutionized portable music with its Walkman tape players 25 years ago. Sony, which has lost its leadership in portable music to Apple, will try to regain that crown with its first iPod-type high-capacity, hard-disk-based music player.

Read the rest of Mr. Mossberg's Review (free link)

[ultratramp]

this walkman and its accompanying software can only play their proprietary ATRAC3 format, no mp3. i smell the next casualty in their proprietary graveyard along with betamax and minidisc. im surprised memory stick is still fighting for its life. i know apple goes against the grain a lot but it doesnt seem to have disasters like sony does.

[Kelvin]

Originally posted by ultratramp
this walkman and its accompanying software can only play their proprietary ATRAC3 format, no mp3. i smell the next casualty in their proprietary graveyard along with betamax and minidisc. im surprised memory stick is still fighting for its life. i know apple goes against the grain a lot but it doesnt seem to have disasters like sony does.

Because Apple uses standards that encourage competition while Sony does the opposite, creating proprietary technology milking each possible buck out of their customers.

[berniej]

According to the article, it took hours to transfer 400+ songs to the walkman. That is simply not acceptable.

[dude_funk]

Originally posted by ultratramp
<snip>
i smell the next casualty in their proprietary graveyard along with betamax and minidisc
<snip>

But just to be fair, the demise of the Betamax format was undeserved. Betamax beats VHS quality any day. The loss of Betamax is a loss for consumers.

[jsaure]

I played with an NW-HD1 yesterday. Nice size but ho-hum design and clunky interface. And $399 for 20GB? It won't make a dent. So-called iPod Killers are becoming as real as the Easter Bunny.