OT: Sony - just as dumb as Pentax

[dhartse]

And go ahead and type in a α symbol. Yeah.

Even if you're net-savvy enough to know the trick, it just means that you're a clever little monkey. Joe Sixpack isn't. He or she will not manage it.

Well, even though the name is Sony α, I would expect people to actually refer to it as the Sony alpha, just as people refer to the Olympus µ-II as the mju-II. (Though Olympus, perhaps wisely, apparently believed Americans were too stupid for this and called it the Stylus Epic in the U.S. 🙂 ) I would agree, though, that the name does cause unnecessary difficulty which works against the product. Now if they don't use 'alpha' in addition to 'α' on web pages that will be boneheaded.

Also, while Joe Sixpack may have trouble with the name, his kids probably won't. Almost everyone is required to study geometry these days, unlike when you and I went to school.

I have to admit that the name is already causing me some difficulty, as I can't get my alpha to look like an alpha here--it insists on looking more like a lowercase 'a'.

Duane

 

[Pherdinand]

Ford Ka is just a "small Ford" in hungarian. Which fits perfectly.
You guys should all learn hungarian.
😛

 

[amateriat]

Ford Ka is just a "small Ford" in hungarian. Which fits perfectly.
You guys should all learn hungarian.😛

Too bad Ford didn't test-market the Ka in Boston... 😉


- Barrett

 

[ywenz]

Ford Ka, I pronouce it "Kah" is a catchy name.

Stupid names are the likes of "Summicron" or "Summilux".."Elmarit" etc... Just refer it to the lens as f/2 or f/1.4 sheesh!

 

[bmattock]

Just stretching your sample here: how would you know if Joe Sixpack can spell Joe Sixpack, pronounce Joe Sixpack, and even search for Joe Sixpack in Google? That argument then implodes.

Ask all your coworkers if they know what Google is. Ask them if they know how to use it. Then ask them if they know how to search for a Greek symbol for alpha.

I know this will work - you work with a flock of seagulls. So do I. So does everybody.

Possible exception if you're a tech dweeb and work in a bullpen full of coders.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Andy K]

The problem with the Ford Ka, is you end up in Abbot and Costello type conversations with their owners:

"What car do you drive?"
"A Ka."
"Yes but which one?"
"A Ford Ka."
"Yes, but which model?"
"A Ka."
"yes, but WHICH ONE??"
"A SportKa..."

Ps, Bill, I think the 35mm *ist is now discontinued. Which is a shame because it was a very nice little SLR.

 

[Goodyear]

When it was launched int he UK there was a very short-lived effort by Ford to convince eberyone it wasn't pronounced 'Kah'. It failed.

FUnky looks (took a while to get used to) and kinda fun to drive - sort of like a go-kart, point'n'shoot 😀 Small and light, it accelerates well even with a small engine, but rattles lke you wouldn't believe by the time you go over 60 mph. I may or may not know what the one I was driving topped out at, and I may or may not know that it was like sitting on a washing machine in its spin-cycle. Your hands feel all funny from the rattle through the wheel.

/edit: to say I've made to many typos to be bothered fixing!

 

[ywenz]

Ps, Bill, I think the 35mm *ist is now discontinued. Which is a shame because it was a very nice little SLR.

ist is back in the form of the Samsun SLR..

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Possible exception if you're a tech dweeb and work in a bullpen full of coders.

emm...err... ::whistling:: :angel:

 

[gregarpp]

Alpha has been the name of the minolta cameras in Japan since AF first hit the market..

This is not a new term... Just not known as well in the USA.

When I saw "Alpha" I has happy.... I have tons of Minolta glass. All "A" mount

 

[former member]

Alpha? Isn't that a Polaroid Camera?

SX70 Alpha. OOOhhhh.. Top shutter speed of 1/180th of a second, much higher than the original SX70's 1/100th. Alpha.

SX70 Sonar. That is a great name for an AF camera. Unless you are shooting through glass.

 

[Alec]

I look forward to matching my Omega (Seamaster) with a (Sony) Alpha 9D, so please make it titanium.

Meanwhile, I tend to side with Bill in this argument. I don't even understand whether Sony intends to use that moniker around the world, or reuse Dynax and Maxxum wherever applicable.

I too remember fondly how google.stanford.edu was incredibly better than altavista circa 1997. But then, I didn't major in marketing.

 

[Taipei-metro]

Alpha has been the name of the minolta cameras in Japan since AF first hit the market..

This is not a new term... Just not known as well in the USA.

When I saw "Alpha" I has happy.... I have tons of Minolta glass. All "A" mount

That' right.
I'd say Alpha Max 7 was the best looking Minolta SLR.
The A 5D, 7D, Sony 828, R1, H1 along w a few KMinolta Startrek like Z d cameras looked uninvolving and disappointing. Canon Nikon DSlrs still designed along the film Slr look, I hope Sony; an 'electronic' company jump out of their 'applience' design mind and gives us some handsome Sony DSlrs.

Very strange that Pentax D *ist series cameras are aimming for as 'family' friendly cameras (look at their ads in Asahi, Nihon and a bounch of Digital dedicated photo mags) but w an un-pronunceable name, strange.
Eos digital Rebels are called 'Kiss', Minolta's 5D was called 'Sweet', Nikon has U, U2(N-55 or 75) in Japan...

 

[gregarpp]

The 7D looks very close to the Max 7.
Both are ok cameras.
The 9 is the best that they made.
I would never sell mine.

 

[Taipei-metro]

The 7D looks very close to the Max 7.
Both are ok cameras.
The 9 is the best that they made.
I would never sell mine.

Strange, Alpha 7d and Alpha 7 looked very much different to me...the front prism where 'KMinolta' name is on 7d is much narrower than that on the A-7, w the hand grip, the A-7 looked a lot balanced.
Alpha 9 (1998) was compared to F6 in 2-2005/Asahi Camera. Conclution? The F6 is a Alpha 9 II...
Minolta seems always played kid brother to the big Canon and Nikon, A 9 is a great machine, it's that 'rectangular prism' on A 9 that throws me off balance (remember Minolta XM?), I'm not too crazy about 'gorilla head' prism on the F6 either. 'Grorilla head' prism was not that pronunced on D2x D70s or D50, and was almost gone on D200.
The chrome d50 is 'cute'. The Canon 10D, too bad it's 'out-dated' now, was a handsome camera. Just my humble observation...