Sony is “threatening to fragment the Thunderbolt standard before it even has a chance to clear port,” John Brownlee reports for Cult of Mac. “On their latest Vaio, “instead of using the Mini DisplayPort standard that Apple has settled upon for its own implementation of Thunderbolt, Sony’s decided to go with a USB head, despite the fact that in the past, the USB Implementers Forum stated in no uncertain terms that ‘USB connectors are not general purpose connectors and are not designed to be used in support of other technology applications or standards or as combo connectors.'”
Brownlee writes, “Irritating. While Sony is free to ultimately choose whichever connector it pleases for Thunderbolt, it’s discouraging to see Thunderbolt fragment into talk of USB-to-Mini-DisplayPort adapters before the first Thunderbolt peripheral has even shipped. Boo, Sony. Boo.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Typical. Whether led by homegrown talent or one unchivalrous knight, from rootkit CDs to fake iPods to screwing up standards, Sony remains firmly committed to proprietary douchebaggery. It’s crap 4-circuit FireWire, er, “i.LINK,” all over again. Good thing that nobody with money and sense buys a Sony laptop over Apple MacBook Pro/Air. Thanks to their own endless bumbling, Sony can’t much threaten anybody or anything with their love of the proprietary. Sony’s ability to undermine and fragment tech standards has been greatly diminished.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lava_Head_UK” for the heads up.]
Sony has lost its way. Proprietary douchebaggery.
It’s not even proprietary. It’s just plain stupid.
Everything about Sony is proprietary, including their brand of stupidity.
…and everything Apple does is right? Is that because you guys are Macheads?
I am a Sony fan and believe they are doing it right. How about that?
Then chances are you indulged in a few too many paint chips as a child.
In tis case, Marco, you have it wrong. The group in charge of the USB standards will set Sony straight.
You are entitled to your opinion, no matter how wrong it is.
🙂
Sony has lost its way. I used to love their products too, but not any more and not for years now.
@Marco — TROLL
Sony used to be such a trend setter in technology.
Look at them now.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
I used to love my Sony Walkman and my Trinitron monitor. What a difference a couple of decades makes.
-jcr
Sony was only good at making standalone products. Walkman, TVs, Etc..
They never made anything that worked together, and never made an OS. That’s where they went wrong.
Jobs wanted to work with Sony… they said, “No.” Bam…. iPod…
Proprietary douchebaggery indeed!
Not unlike the proprietary Hard Drives in the latest iMacs?
Et tu, Steven?
There is actually a reason for the proprietary connectors on iMac HDs, as maddening as upgrading will be.
There is no discernible reason for this abomination. So you’ll have a cable with USB on one end and HDMI on the other? Or something?
And what is that good reason for proprietary connectors on iMac HDs?
I’ve read the various sites, and no one seems to have a clear answer.
Internal drive heat sensors vs. the current industry standard. You can listed to the latest Hypercritical podcast with John Siracusa (of Ars Technica fame) for more details.
It’s different, because the 2 unused pins in the INTERNAL SATA connector are ‘not specified’ by the governing committee for SATA.
The USB port IS DEFINED by the USB governing committee.
And, one is internal, while the other is external. If you want to dink around inside a Mac, get a MacPro, like I did. SSD drives, 3rd party memory, different Display Adapter. The iMac is NOT meant to be “user-servicable” (with the exception of memory, which Apple makes easy for end-users).
“The iMac is NOT meant to be “user-servicable”…
Many will disagree. The current iMac form factor (with some tweaks) basically goes back to G5 days and that interior was very easy to access… especially when compared to the previous (and current) model iMacs.
Since then, it appears Apple has been taking their “user service” cues from the 125k Macs.
FWIW, Apple hasn’t actually come out and said that current iMacs aren’t “user-servicable” except for memory. IMO, that notion is a simple generality based on the fact that iMac “user-service” is difficult to do, rather than an official Apple policy.
In fact, Apple does have an official stance (of a sort) that is related to this issue. Sorry… I don’t have the link, but it links to Apple and been posted many times, many places, including MDN. The gist if it is this… performing “user service” (such as replacing a HD) will not void your warranty… unless you damage something while doing so.
As an apple service provider I dont encourage people to open iMacs, its really easy to mess them up without the proper tools and preparation.
Bit hey, the more messed up tey come the fatter my paycheck gets so, go ahead, make my day!
“Since then, it appears Apple has been taking their “user service” cues from the 125k Macs.”
Were those the 128k Macs that didn’t quite make it?
Nice take, MDN. I was asking myself “don’t people need to give a shit about what you’re doing for you to have the power to undermine?”.
Agreed – it’s doubtful that Sony has the power to be as influential as Apple in this area anymore, so they could very easily paint themselves into a corner.
And one would hope that the USB Implementers Forum slaps Sony down hard on this one – after all, they *did* put the kibosh on Palm’s earlier USB-related iTunes shenanigans.
Sony should give their implementation a cool name: BetaMax.
Don’t knock Betamax. It was a superior technology that *could* have set the standard had Sony been willing to license it. I had the Super Betamax (SL-HF400) and got years of good use out of it. (It and many tapes are now stored away.)
Actually, Sony’s Betamax was taken to court by Hollywood, who didn’t want consumers to record anything. That legal wrangling did more to kill the consumer version of the product than any licensing deals.
Failing to gain traction in the consumer space BM went pro and was adopted by every broadcast station in the nation. In the meantime, Hollywood lost on appeal at the SCOTUS, and by then other manufacturers decided 1/2 inch tape produced a cheaper machine and they were right.
In 1982, I only paid seven-hundred-dollars for a top-loading VHS player.
If they want to surrender the market for pro post-production to Apple, fsck ’em.
If they want to deny their consumer base – such as it is – a crack at rationalising connector madness and optimising data throughput, fsck ’em some more.
In 2001, pre-iPod, SNE had a market cap of around $70 billion. Now, it’s below $30 billion. So you could easily argue that Sony’s potential customer base has witnessed Sony’s strict adherence to the “not invented here” philosophy (a stick which was used for many years to beat Apple) and decided that it isn’t interested.
ATRAC, strange little discs that fit in PSPs and nothing else, crippled FireWire connectors, etc. ad nauseum: you’d think they’d learn – but they obviously haven’t.
Sony is King of “i wanna set a standard againts any logic”
Remember when everyone was using compact disc and sony came out with the mini disc? And everyone is using SD cards while Sony came out with thir proprietary memory and socket?
To be fair, CDs were Sony’s invention along with Philips (Netherlands, Europe).
But many of other standards were handled wrongly by Sony, yes.
The MemoryStick continues to plague Sony digital devices to this day. While optically, many of their cameras (and camcorders) perform exceptionally well, ordinary consumers often steer clear of Sony because the stupid MemorySticks cost twice as much as CompactFlash or SD cards.
They surely will never learn.
That’s exactly why I’ve never bought a Sony camera. However, they are now including an SD card slot on their newer cameras.
Nokia lost 2/3rds of their market share in smartphones in 2 years.
How much market share can Sony lose in 2 years?
I see Sony is working hard to match Nokia.
I have an old Sony Firewire cable around here for a sony camera… you couldnt tell by looking at it, uses a proprietary connection.
Sony does this crap all the time.
Are you sure it’s proprietary, or are they just using the 4-pin version that doesn’t carry power?
can’t find the damn cable, office looks like a tornado came through it. I think it is the 4 pin, but looks like this…
this is dumb. the shape of the USB head is a bad design because you cannot tell if it is up or down, esp. in low light. the display port is much easier to plug in. SONY is losing usability just to be dicks, and high end drives are not going to side with sony… mac is their market.
Now the new war is who is going to need a dongle.
(I hope it’s not Apple.)
What am I thinking lol.. it’s just a different cord. Nevermind.
Sony has always done this crap. I remember back in the 80’s where sony stereo systems took a ‘special’ detachable power cord. All the other stereos used a pretty standard connector on their detachable power cords that could be purchased at Radio Shack. You could only buy Sony’s power cord from Sony.
Well it seems both Sony and HP are trying to ding Apple by confusing things so much that peripheral manufacturers will slow their adoption rate of Thunderbolt. To that I say, ‘simply add Thunderbolt to the iPad’ and the game is over. Apple’s Thunderbolt implementation wins, just as USB did when Apple stuck it on the first iMacs.
Sony should STFU and worry about their own network security issues first.
Oh, yeah and let’s just get this straight… nearly everything is proprietary. Kinda get tired of hearing people throw that word around without knowing its true meaning. I’m looking at you Android and Windows fanboys.
SONY got its way with Blue-Ray’s wider adoption over HD-DVD because the tech world overwhelmingly backed the format with the bigger numbers (“more GBs is better!”) With vindication like that under their belt, why would SONY stop trying to re-define any new technology?
Because their option isn’t better.
I agree but having been vindicated in the HD format war, SONY will keep trying to create their own standards.
To explain further, lets look at the DISADVANTAGES of Sony’s implementation:
First one is size:
Mini Display port plug size: 4.5mm x 7.4mm
USB port plug size: 4.5mm x 12mm
Second one is ease of use:
With a typical USB plug, it is not obvious whether the connector should be face up or face down, and thus it is often necessary to try the insertion both ways. The Mini Displayport on the other hand makes it quite obvious which side is up and down.
Both of these considerations give an advantage to Apple’s implementation of Thunderbolt technology.
I agree with all your points. Just because Blue-Ray became the format for HD does not mean it was the better technology.
“SONY got its way with [Blu-Ray]… because the tech world overwhelmingly backed the format with the bigger numbers…”.
Not exactly. Blu-Ray IS the better technology. What isn’t better about Blu-Ray is:
1) The diabolical 3 layered DRM infection crap the technology inflicts on users (which is precisely why it was never implemented into Mac OS X).
2) The outrageously inflated pricing of everything Blu-Ray. GOUGE GOUGE GOUGE! A Sony specialty.
3) No follow-up improvement in the technology. It exists! But Sony keeps it under-foot. Dicks.
Overall, Sony’s problem is typical of Marketing-Morons: Hate Thy Customer.
You just explained why Blue-Ray was not better than HD-DVD. Everyone just focussed on its one advantage, the capacity. If we were watching HD-DVDs on our Macs, encoded with H.264 today, no-one would miss Blue-Ray.
Sol: It’s “Blu-ray”. Got it? Blu-ray.
Seeing as I kindly corrected your misspelling above and yet you insistently continue to spell it WRONG, I see no reason to take your supposed comprehension of Blu-ray seriously.
Blu-ray continues to be the superior technology over HD-DVD, which I personally am glad died the death. I very kindly pointed out that Blu-Ray has stupid problems caused directly by stupid Sony. But that has nothing to do with the fact that HD-DVD was INADEQUATE as an upgrade from DVD-DL. If you’d like to read about the two technologies, which apparently you have not, seeing as you don’t even read replies to your posts, be sure to check out the articles at Wikipedia, which are:
Blu-ray Disc
HD DVD
Comparison of high definition optical disc formats
In this last article you will see that Blu-ray is superior in:
– Storage Capacity
– Data Transfer Bandwidth
– Digital Dolby Bandwidth
– Optional DTS-HD Master Audio bandwidth
– Interactivity coding
– Mandatory hardcoating of discs
AND
Blu-ray provided 1080p HD resolution video from day one. HD DVD did NOT, making it less than actual ‘HD’ in quality.
Now that I’ve done your homework for you, I hope your brain has exploded. 😕
Sony was only one of many inventors and patent holders who promoted blu ray , compared to the few for HD DVD. That is the reason it succeeded.
Everyone associates blu ray with Sony but this is wrong. Its Sony, Panasonic, Philips..etc.. (about 14 more companies).
Sony is a classic example of how humans rise to power (usually via hard work and ingenuity) then eventually seek to protect their position by being slovenly and using their position to undermine the true ingenuity that now threatens their reign from below.
I hope they choke on their own greed.
Fsck Sony. They are about as relevant as adobe flash. I would rather buy apple peripherals than Sony/windoze crapola anyday. Soon to be relegated to the shit bin.
I sooooo hate Sony these days.
Witness what a Marketing-As-Management infested company does when they can’t innovate any more. Watch Sony die out of their own incompetence and drive toward self-destruction. I’ll be sad to see them go, same as with HP and its determination to kill itself.
How many accounts got their information and credit card numbers stolen from the PlayStation servers? 70 MILLION was it? OMFG what a way to tick off your customers! Maybe it’s better that they die.
Apart from being “against” the standard, it’s actually a fairly innovative solution. I know you guys won’t like it, but why not have a USB dongle on the end and have only one port needed for thunderbolt or USB. Who cares what the USB people say.
As long as it can do both well and doesn’t have any limitations, its a good idea. This way you have an extra USB port if you don’t use the TB port (which MOST people WON’T, by the way)
On my laptop, I have a high-power USB port that’s a different color inside, it’s yellow. Why not differentiate the TB port the same way, by color.
Kerry? I thought he was in Pokeestahn telling them how it was going to be.
Where does he find the time to spread so much goodness (and ketchup) around the planet…?
And BTW, if their had been as much regulation in the past as a certain Senator always wants, Rockefeller wouldn’t be a “Rockefeller”, if you know what I mean.