The High Price of Potential

My feelings on Sony’s handling of their public relations is quite clear, so I won’t go over them again here except to say I think it’s been less than stellar. That said I’ve always felt Howard Stringer is the best thing to happen to Sony in a long while. The man is intelligent, tactful, well spoken and driven. He can actually see that Sony’s electronics division has fallen from grace over the years and is making it a priority to restore the company’s image, get the different departments in hardware and software talking again and make generally make things right.

For the most part he’s also been a champion spokesperson for the PS3, just about everything he’s said has been right on the money and downright honest. Even the much ballyhooed Freudian slip (which by the way received entirely too much media attention) was handled with grace. Just yesterday however, Stringer said something that truly struck me, it’s something just about every paying consumer knows in their hearts, we just don’t want to hear. In Stringers words when you plonk down those 600 bones, “you’re paying for potential.” Somewhat unsettling. Stringer does however to go on to explain that the PS3 is an investment in the future, and that it is future-proof technology that will be around for many, many years.

Personally I was thrown into a state of flux regarding these comments, on the one hand Stringer continues his trend of honesty and straightforwardness, on the other, he’s painted the PS3 with a great huge question mark. It’s no longer the wonder machine that will blow everyone away, instead it’s “got potential”.

What do you guys think, do Stringers comments speak more to refreshing honesty, or was it simply the wrong choice of words.

My feelings on Sony’s handling of their public relations is quite clear, so I won’t go over them again here except to say I think it’s been less than stellar. That said I’ve always felt Howard Stringer is the best thing to happen to Sony in a long while. The man is intelligent, tactful, well spoken and driven. He can actually see that Sony’s electronics division has fallen from grace over the years and is making it a priority to restore the company’s image, get the different departments in hardware and software talking again and make generally make things right.

For the most part he’s also been a champion spokesperson for the PS3, just about everything he’s said has been right on the money and downright honest. Even the much ballyhooed Freudian slip (which by the way received entirely too much media attention) was handled with grace. Just yesterday however, Stringer said something that truly struck me, it’s something just about every paying consumer knows in their hearts, we just don’t want to hear. In Stringers words when you plonk down those 600 bones, “you’re paying for potential.” Somewhat unsettling. Stringer does however to go on to explain that the PS3 is an investment in the future, and that it is future-proof technology that will be around for many, many years.

Personally I was thrown into a state of flux regarding these comments, on the one hand Stringer continues his trend of honesty and straightforwardness, on the other, he’s painted the PS3 with a great huge question mark. It’s no longer the wonder machine that will blow everyone away, instead it’s “got potential”.

What do you guys think, do Stringers comments speak more to refreshing honesty, or was it simply the wrong choice of words.