After less than four months on the market — and despite the oft-trumpeted, yet obviously meaningless built-in FM tuner — Sony’s Walkman Bean has been cooked by boiling Apple iPod sales. Debuting in October 2005, Sony had high hopes for the kidney-shaped, flash-based 512MB (US$130, since cut to around $110) and 1GB ($180, since cut to around $140) Walkman Beans. Alas, Sony’s hopes have been dashed in what just might be record time.
“Yesterday, the company confirmed that it will be discontinued in April. It insists that repairs are still available long after production ends,” David Derbyshire reports for The Telegraph. Oliver Duff also reports the same news for The Independent, “After less than six months on the market, Sony has announced that the Bean will be discontinued in April.”
MacDailyNews Take: iPod: killer. That was one quick — but not painless to Sony — death.
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Old Japanese saying
“When bean is dead, make miso soup.”
hahhahahahaha!!
Just what everyone wanted… a music player shaped like the internal organ of a human child.
What next? The Thalmus? a small nut shaped mp3 player that holds more music than your own noggin’?
MW… higher, as in I’m XXXX than Andy tonight!
(see comments on prev. article)
Holy Shit. M-M-M-MONSTER KILL!
The FM tuner might be worth having if there was anything on FM worth listening to in the first place.
Remembering the beleagured Apple days, I cringe when I hear such smugness.
It’s so hard to keep up with all the “iPod Killers”. Thanks MDN!
BTW, what ever became of ‘Creative’? After the huge win at CES as “Best Product”, I haven’t heard much.
I never thought the Bean was an iPod Killer, but I did think it would survive! It’s Sony’s best attempt so far.
One good reason NOT to get any player but an iPod: it’s likely to be off the market before very many are sold. And that means good luck getting service in the long run.
For those of us who live in Asia, the design of the Sony MP3 player is actually cool compared to many of the choices out here. Most MP3 players are designed just like standard old school USB drives, slim and boring, but Sony had potential. I guess they really did not get the integrated content thing down…I am sure they will come up with something else in a few months to claim they can hurt apple.
Time will tell
Sony is a has bean
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I love my iPod but it would be great if someone could really come out with something to compete with it. Although, every company fails to realize that it is the whole package; not just the player that makes iPod so great. Gotta have a total solution to really compete with Apple. They keep looking at this market like the PC market and can’t comprehend that it is a totally different creature. As soon as the realize that then Apple will actually have some “healthy” competition (not the monopolisitic type they are used to with Microsoft). Remember that competition is a good thing. It will keep Apple sharp and innovative. Now if we can just get people to see the quality that OS X is over windows but one can dream.
HERE A PIC OF THE BEAN: PIECE OF CRAP if you ask me…can’t compare to a Ipod nano 1 GB at same price?? No chance.
Yaahahahaaahhh, Apple . . .
BITCH SLAP that motherF-CKER!!!
SLAP it like a BABY!!!
Slap it DOWN!!
If you go to Sony’s website and look for it’s hard drive based MP3 players, you’ll find that they are no longer available. It doesn’t look like there were any announcements. It did a “Dell DJ” and simply vanished off the shelf. Are there ANY 30+GB Mp3 players left? if there are, not for much longer it would seem.
Gives new meaning to the phrase “frigging the bean”!
Can the stock price of AAPL now please start to rise?
Please???
Oh yaah, and F-CK GOOGLE, you f-cking sinking piece of sh!t!
Search MDN, I told you long ago tech stocks are going to take a nose dive.
It’s because in the US people now have to pay more for everything and incomes have not come up accordingly.
All their money is going for the higer costs of rents and food, gas etc. basics.
Not much money for iPods and Mac’s.
Google was overinflated and now with all the bad press, acting like Microsoft, it’s time to get a new search engine.
Don’t do Yahoo, they are selling out people to the Chinese Government.
Microsoft, Yahoo, Sony/BMG, the RIAA, the MIAA, all these evil corporations.
And now Google has turned to the DaRk sIdE
Eventually Apple will too, just wait until Trusted Computing rears it’s ugly head.
Apple couldn’t use a cool G5 processor even if IBM gave them one, it’s all about DRM schemes Intel created, Hollywood endorsed.
Oh yes read on, U-build PC’ers are fuming!!
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_nvidia_hdcp_support/
pino,
Will you and the other morons whining about AAPL please give us a fucking break! The stock market is not a goddamned lottery, neither is the stock price an indication of the strength of the company’s business model. The market is for goddamned investors, not speculators looking for a quick buck.
Do you have faith in Apple’s long term viability or not? Is the stock price trending up or not? If the answer is yes to both, then stick with it, and don’t let dips unnerve you. Growth is never a smooth progression; there will be retreats, mostly driven by clueless daytraders who jump on the say-so of equally clueless analysts. If you’re looking for a quick return on your money, you have no business in the stock market. Here’s a clue: forget the stock price and look at the potential of the business. How do you think the Tech Bubble happened in the first place? Clueless speculators looking to make a killing jumped on any piece of shit with a “dot com” at the end of the name.
Sorry for harshing on you, but Jesus, if you have no idea how investing works, stay the hell out of the market and stop whining about the stock price already. You have no idea how grating it is, nor how uninformed it makes you appear.
Haven’t seen that much gibberish and nonsense concentrated into one post in a loooong time (‘cept the Yahoo stuff–where you’re dead on). Sorry to be brutally honest, but someone had to be.
Kate
Did anyone else actually read the whole second article? Two gems I loved:
“Now that PC development has reached the boundaries of most people’s expectations, ever-increasing processor sizes are only really useful for those who want 3D gaming – the next wave of machines will be “media centres” for the living room. The basic idea is a “computer in a telly” with only one cable – the power cable. It will have a wireless mouse, keyboard and internet capability – and a wide screen. One such machine is the Sony VA1, released next month.”
Or the iMac Core Duo, released last month, or the iMac G5 released ~two years ago
“The problem is that existing DVD technology is not all that it is cracked up to be: it will begin the journey to obsolescence when incompatible high-definition televisions start flying off the shelves.”
Since when are hi-def sets incompatible with DVDs? Is there any requirement to being a journalist nowadays? Perhaps I should give it a try…
I forgot one:
“For £1,200, Samsung sell a 42in flat-panel plasma television with a sharp, vibrant picture. The problem is that it will be obsolete after “high-definition” (HD) television arrives, offering twice the picture quality.”
??!?!??!?
built in FM has ALWAYS been a lame “feature” for an MP3 music player. Howard Stern, the one non-music reason for FM is no longer there, so there is absolutely NO reason for FM when I’ve got 4800 songs on hand. That said, what do I want when I’m tired of listening to music? Talk. Most talk radio is on AM. It’s not about fidelity, so no moaning. It’s about content. So, if an iPod was to have ANY radio at all, it ought to be the band that provides an alternative to what one already has loaded on the player. However, with a plethora of Podcasts now available, there is lots of spoken word programming easily loaded for convenient listening. Looks like Apple had it right the first time… no radio.
mdn word: volume, as in pump it up.
Although he is a little different, I do think that Mr. Bean is funny. Hate to see him go.
wait, am I at the wrong website?
Although he is a little different, I do think that Mr. Bean is funny. Hate to see him go.
wait, am I at the wrong website?
Although he is a little different, I do think that Mr. Bean is funny. Hate to see him go.
wait, am I at the wrong website?
Although he is a little different, I do think that Mr. Bean is funny. Hate to see him go.
wait, am I at the wrong website?