What do we actually want from a technology company like Sony?

[stengol]

I have been thinking a lot recently about what I actually want from an entertainment system in my house. Then I looked around for products that would fit.

I came away with a couple of conclusions.

There was nothing that actually did all that I wanted.

I could buy equipment from several different manufacturers that would accomplish 90% of what I want to achieve.

Some of it would be a bit clunky or not optimal quality to make it all work together

The overlap between products offering part of the same functionality was around 40%

As an example my Onkyo receiver has net capabilities, so does my Panasonic PVR/Blue ray player and my Sony TV. That does not include the ipad, computer and xbox 360.

So I ask myself these questions.

Why does one company not provide a holistic approach to home entertainment systems?

Do they even know what we, the consumer want to achieve?

If this happens in the home entertainment arena how many other parts of a huge organization like Sony also could benefit from a better approach.

The point of this thread is to see what others want to achieve. Whether my ideal is so far fetched that someone like Sony actually have is correct or do we all want the same things and manufacturers need to think more holistically about their products, stop separate department working in their own silos and have cross fertilization of ideas across the company.

So here is what I want to achieve.

What do you want?

Equipment

Mobile phone: able to play music, control the volume level in different zones around by house. (Obviously make calls etc that all phones do)

Tablet: similar to above, but ability to play movies on TV screen from the tablet or control content from the NAS server in my house

PVR/Blue ray: record TV, watch TV  play discs.

Xbox 360: Play games (nothing else)

AV Receiver: Accept inputs from everything above distribute sounds to different zones around my house via network/wifi. Accept streaming from NAS server. Have all the net capabilities, (Netflix, iPlayer, Spotify etc.) The receiver should be the real hub of the home

 TV: Accept input from AV receiver. (nothing else)

Speakers:  wired surround sound speakers in the main room, wifi or network connected speakers in other rooms.

Control: One system to control things not one for every item or the expense of Crestron or similar.

I wouldn’t have thought this would be too difficult, but as I suggested above it means a mixture of Sony, Panasonic, Onkyo, Sonos, Thekus Nas server and many more interconnects from other supplier. Overlapping functionality and confused control system between all the components.

Surely a company like Sony could regain pre-eminence in the technology field if they produced a proper “home entertainment system”?

Sony if you would like to come to me to see how a real consumer would interact with your technology in the real world, please do

[Catmambo]

Great post - I love these kind of threads..

Very few customers are wholly brand loyal to one firm, maybe Apple is the only company who has successfully built its own eco-system and devices on top of that. There will always be a cross over of functionality as 'Smart' for example costs probably a few $ to add to a device, yet adds a huge amount of value, so its in a companies best interest to add to most devices in a range. 

The flip side is that I'm not personally interested in being beholdent to one single ecosystem. So I have Windows/OSX/Linux/iOS & Android devices which I use regularly. This gives me personally and professionally good exposure to all major ecosystems and a good understanding of their functionality and compatibility. If I solely used Windows and Android - the two 3rd party ecosystems Sony use for most mobile devices -  it would make me incredibly blinkered I think, so its good to add other OS's into the mix.

We have a good size consumer research team who are constantly studying user behaviour and attitudes towards products and our brand. Indeed worth noting attitudes off the back of last years IFA and this years CES have been very positive - http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/10/5293414/sony-rediscovers-swagger-at-ces-2014

Refreshing to read the comments at the bottom are largely positive with consumers wanting a confident, but not arrogant Sony.

Keen to hear what others think as well!

[stengol]

I absolutely agree with you about staying cross platform.

That still does not mean Sony could not put together a coherent system.

They have the TVs, receivers, speakers, wireless technolgy, networking technolgy and could even integrate home phones if they wanted to. That would still allow content to be played from Apple devices and controlled by them as well.

Really interesting article that you pointed out, especially the comment from the CEO about breaking down silo within the organisation, which was exactly my point.

Would love to hear other people's opinions.

[Catmambo]

Don't disagree - The cost of putting together an eco system is huge and barriers to entry massive. Its taken Apple the best part of a decade to get get to where they are basically off the back off iTunes. But its definitely possible for other smaller companies like Sonos to create versions in specific areas, but bigger concepts are definitely challenging.

Closest thing another major has gotten to is something like Samsung & Tizen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tizen . But like Palm OS being put on TV's http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/30/lg_webos_tv_to_debut_at_ces/ I'm not sure if the flavour of operating system will help swing consumers unless the experience is top notch as most people I think aren't worried about what operating system their device runs. 

[Anonymous]

Im going to weigh in on this conversation as well.  I think Sony is one of the very few companies who can actually shape the home entertainment and electronics industry if they so choose.  Having a music/movie and electronics divisions certainly assists.  Sony is therefore in the prime position to know what consumers want and dont want. 

Having said that though, Blockbuster as well as HMV were also in prime positions for their market - but in my opinion it was their arrogance and unwillingness to change is one of the main contributing causes of their demise.  I dont believe Sony has shown that arrogance, however it does have its own issues.

What I would like to see, is companies adhere to industry set standards and maybe a few more.  In the home these days, we have lots of electronic devices and gadgets, many of which do not operate with each other, or rather limited at best. 

In regards to Sony specifically, I would like to see a much greater range of products that complement each other.  For example, when I was purchasing a Sony AV Receiver, I could not find any Sony 5.1/7.1/7.2 speaker packages (never mind on the affordability side).  A couple of products that I would like to see from Sony are (NOT an exhaustive list):

• A Universal Remote Control (similar to the Harmony) - Yes HDMI-CEC functions are fine much of the time, but not always.
• A range of speaker packages to compliment AV receivers - from affordability to highend
• An updated Network Media Player - Sony has fell behind on this.
• A full product range that is not limited to geographical area (ie whats available in the US is available in the UK - even if it has to be ordered)

As the industry on a whole grasps with the concept of connectivity.  The biggest issue that needs addressing is the safe-guarding of personal data.  I want FULL control over everything.  If things absolutely 'have to' be uploaded to 'the cloud', I want full control and a guarrantee that law enforcement/spy agencies cannot access this (even under a subpoena.  At this stage the only product of Sony that I wish to fail is the Lifeblog. 

Im going to leave it there now.  I could go on for sometime