Are You A Consumer Electronics Insider?
Despite my relatively young age (24), I have observed the consumer electronics industry for about a decade. The generation I come from is part of a target demographic that has redefined some of the basic elements of marketing. This new definition will extend for decades to come and is what I consider to be the humble beginnings of an untaught era in consumer and corporate relations. I truly believe Sony Insider is proof of this sentiment; instead of Sony asking me to shut the site down I am in talks with them to work on content for their electronics blog.
The consumer electronics industry is rapidly changing every year, and we live in an age now where the consumer can observe a swift stream of information about their favorite brand or type of product. The general public is becoming very interested in the latest and greatest in technology, yet many still sit in the dark and don’t hear about things until they observe them in person at their local store that has electronics. Nonetheless, hundreds of millions of people around the world visit websites such as engadget, Gizmodo, and others. The traffic to such sites grows each year (as people become more connected) and are often in the tier of the most visited websites in the world. Those are just the English sites – did you know that there is the same wealth of information available in many other languages?
A fair number of the stories written on Sony Insider come from sources in other countries where Sony has a huge presence. It’s not uncommon to see products and technologies exclusive to a certain country. For example, Sony China has a personal media player with a big screen and excellent functionality but is only sold in that region. Another example is the waterproof BRAVIA television with a 4 inch screen that was recently released by Sony Japan. These products will likely never be sold outside their target country for various reasons, but are a perfect example of the unknown that many of us find interesting.
A story of the unknown in the gadget world is the type of content that technology blog/news websites love to cover. Traffic estimates show that you, the connected reader, love it too. The connected reader is a consumer electronics insider: they read the tech blogs often each week, check everything out that is announced at trade shows (IFA, CES, etc), and tell the people they know about it and influence them accordingly. It’s an unexplainable interest that many of us wield, but what people don’t understand is that they are also wielding great power. Companies are noticing that the Insider demographic can make their product experience better through the feedback we leave in comments at tech blogs, your blog posts, and forums.
Often, people don’t realize Sony and other electronics companies digest this information and utilize your suggestions. I challenge you, the consumer, to give more feedback through comments for companies such as Sony on tech blog sites. Be proactive and write blog or forum posts about what you think when a new product comes out. Write an honest review with clear pictures about a product you purchased and try and send it as a tip to the tech blogs. A true Insider rises above the rest and makes a difference through what they know; are you a consumer electronics insider?
Great post. And yes, perhaps there is a sort of duty to use this power to make the electronics world even better. I will do my best.
great post, I am personally not a consumer electronics insider but have been running a car website devoted to insider information since 2002 now
. anyways, I try to give opinions on products whenever I can but sony unfortunately decides not to release firmware updates on their players to add more features!
It puzzees me as to why other companies decide to add new features to their players while sony sits back and rests on its laurels. Why are there no on the go playlists on the players? why can’t I play divx, or wmv files on the players? where is support for ogg or flac? gapless perhaps? and other lossless.
as shocking it may be sony, yes consumers such as myself want, gapless support (mp3 and acc), on the go playlists, much better video codec support, and support for lossless. sony wake up, you are in the 21st century, isn’t it about time you lead the market in features and technology? perhaps you’re too chicken.
hmm Sony wants this site to be shut? This doesn’t sounds good to me .Well,Long live Sonyinsider!!
Regarding consumer electronics insider ,yes I’m somewhat .I try to review every electronic/gadget product I bought and even I have tried to help my friends and family member in making decision regarding electronic gadgets .
Yes,its strange that electronic giants sell products like this .two days back I tried to enquired with Sony ,why don’t they sell high end headphones in India eg MDR-SA5000,SA3000,SA1000,MDR-EX700 and they had no answer to that .If Sennheiser ,Bose(Sorry to mention it even lol),Denon,Onkyo,Yamaha etc can sell high priced hi-fi products in India,then why not Sony.
SONY, do not shut this site down! I was on the market for an eBook Reader and the info on this site forced me to wait for the Sony model. See sense, info is King!!!!!!!!
No, I don’t know why you guys think they want to shut it down..they don’t. I stated that INSTEAD of shutting the site down, they ask to work with me closer.
ok,Relief !
Now I understand
Devil’s advocate and rant warning, but bear with me.
I actually think that’s the big issue with the internet today. Everyone thinks they know best, but sometimes the public doesn’t really have an opinion, and they end up being taught by marketing or by shallow numbers, or by Ryan Block or some random editorial. The world of gadget blogs are filled to the brim with posts and comments that have no respect for the subject or its context. While I think Sony Insider is wonderful for not suffering from that, I cringe at the thought that someone like Ryan Block can squeeze yet another site out of his career to profit from laughing at how many ear models Sony took to refine their canal phone earpieces.
I say this because part of Sony’s success and intrigue have always come from doing their own thing, delivering a product from their own approach, on their own terms. During the last few years I’ve also seen Sony increasingly “let up” and just accept what people requested, but based on what I see, they don’t necessarily like the outcome, and they demand more. And Sony products are sometimes succeeded by far less attractive alternatives, because of these “public requests”. I’ve got the S700 and S610 in front of me right now, I think together they make a pretty powerful point.
Taking onboard opinions that aren’t entirely well thought-out and well-formed is not the way to run a business. Should Sony run like a puppy every time a teenage fanboi shouts Epic Fail? All I’m saying is that I don’t think so. Let them do their own thing, or they’ll just become SanDisk. SanDisk caters to every whim people ask for, tend to price their players reasonably, and is even proactive with Rockbox. So how come this community isn’t one of SanDisk fans?
How can i become a consumer insider for Sony. I have previous insider experience with many different companies but SONY rates #1
cathy meier
mykidzrock01@yahoo.com