"How Sony failed to Connect, again"
updated 11:15 pm EDT, Thu June 1, 2006
Sony Connect failure
Sony's Connect music service, which the company hoped would unseat Apple's iTunes dominance, suffered from a number of setbacks and was ultimately unsuccessful, as the company discontinued development of its software earlier this year. CNET News.com has an insider's look the software development project, which was headed by former Apple employee and QuickTime guru Peter Hoddie at the third-party Kinoma startup. Hoddie reportedly was able to convince Sony executives to turn to the startup because of "Apple's meteoric rise in music has left top Sony executives with both respect and envy for Apple's products, even while they resist becoming dependent on Microsoft's digital music technology. Kinoma and Hoddie appealed to their envy of Apple and their aversion to Microsoft." Released only in Japan and Europe, the Connect software was ultimately discontinued this past April due to continued problems; however, Kinoma is still working on Sony's new, high-profile eBook Reader, according to the report.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2001
Very interesting reading
Too bad, because Sony was the only company that attempted to create a fully integrated player/software/eStore package like iPod/iTunes/iTMS.