Seat at the Table

Lesson: A feature not necessarily core to a product can still fix reputation problems.  The Sony Playstation 3’s built ability to use other operating systems may fix its reputation as a manufacturer of closed systems that early adopters dislike.

I was explaining the many non-gaming reasons to buy a Playstation 3 to a friend - ability to install another operating system, ability to play different types of media files, ability to upgrade etc - when he says, "I’m surprised.  Isn’t Sony all about closed systems and tight control over content?" 

"Well," I responded thinking out loud, "they are…or, were.   That’s why I swore off their music products.  But perhaps Playstation 3 is a new era of creating the best hardware package for consumers and not letting concerns from their music and movie executives water down a good customer experience. Maybe Playstation 3 is their way of saying ‘we’re back and more user friendly than ever.’"

Using what might be their most iconic product, Sony might be able to rebuild the brand of what was formerly their most iconic product - Walkman - and their general reputation in music hardware.   

It was early adopters (likemyself) that went out, tried products like Minidiscs and Sony CDs only to find they were hobbled by Digital Rights Management software (software that controls what we do with the content).  As a result, they quickly gained a reputation amongst the early adopter community as closed, restrictive systems that saw protection of content as a priority over good consumer design.

But the Playstation 3 has not suffered from this type of technology.  Instead, it is probably the most open gaming console ever.  Sony builds in the ability to install other operating systems on the hard drive with the likeliest systems to be opens source Linux systems.  If Sony pushes this capability as a message that this is a new, more open era, they can quickly gain a reputation as one of the more consumer friendly product producers.  In early adopter circles this may already be catching on, though I have not seen much evidence that Sony is pursuing it aggressively.

Either way, this is a good example of how product design can make, break and potentially make a reputation.  We shall see in the years ahead how this all plays out.