OT: Sony - just as dumb as Pentax

[Dougg]

Doug, please trust me when I say I was writing regular expressions and teaching librarians how to do internet searches before there was a world-wide-web. I'm an early adopter, my first Usenet post is dated 1991, my first dialup internet account was in 1985. I was there when Yahoo was created, and way before Google. I know how to use it.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q="sony+a"&btnG=Search

Returns a Newsweek story on the Sony spyware debacle.
A 1997 story on the Sony Navicam (whatever that is).
Remote Control for Sony A/V equipment

And so on. The first mention of the Sony a is...ah, after four pages I gave up. None that I saw.

Now, could I have crafted a query expression that would have found just what I wanted? You bet. At least I think I could. But I won't bother. And why should I? I'm the consumer. If Sony wants to advertise to me, they can find me, or make it very easy for me to find them. A findable Google search does that.

Still searching for the wrong thing, misspelled essentially. Try this.... http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Sony+α&btnG=Search

 

[Twigs]

Konica-Minolta and Minolta cameras all have the α (alpha) in their names in Japan.

Maybe Sony would market it as "alpha" here, who knows?

 

[bmattock]

Still searching for the wrong thing, misspelled essentially. Try this.... http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=Sony+α&btnG=Search

Yes, that works fine. And Joe Sixpack is going to remember to do that how, exactly? Most Americans don't even know that a Greek letter is anything more than something a fraternity has hanging from the second floor of their house.

Few people, and I mean very few, know how to even enter a non alpha-numeric character from their keyboard.

Again, if the point is to be found - and I think it must be in this day and age - then Sony is flat-out wrong and stupid. That you or I can figure out how to type in an aleph or a carat or a copyright symbol is proof of our geekitude, it does not help Sony in the slightest.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Pherdinand]

Bill, while you are right with the pronounciation of these names, i think you are too pessimistic w respect to the search, to be found stuff. The "a"should refer to a line of cameras, the real stuff probably will be stg like "sony a7" or "sony a300" or such. Or alpha if you prefer.
As soon as there'll be stg posted on the Web about the products, it will be just as easy to find it as it is for "leica m6" or "pentax *ist".

And back to pronounciation, the "most americans" you talk about probably can't pronounce Angenieux or Voigtlander properly, neither Zeiss Ikon or even a simple Nikon. Still they manage somehow. If they have problems saying alpha they might just say "a", or just plain "the new sony dslr".

 

[bmattock]

Bill, while you are right with the pronounciation of these names, i think you are too pessimistic w respect to the search, to be found stuff. The "a"should refer to a line of cameras, the real stuff probably will be stg like "sony a7" or "sony a300" or such. Or alpha if you prefer.
As soon as there'll be stg posted on the Web about the products, it will be just as easy to find it as it is for "leica m6" or "pentax *ist".

And back to pronounciation, the "most americans" you talk about probably can't pronounce Angenieux or Voigtlander properly, neither Zeiss Ikon or even a simple Nikon. Still they manage somehow. If they have problems saying alpha they might just say "a", or just plain "the new sony dslr".

If they had just given it a unique or simple name, they'd have avoided all such silly business (people having to 'settle on' what to call the danged thing). But they had to be all cutesy-pie.

Ticks me off.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Socke]

Hm, come to think of it, maybe they just want to make sure that only people capable and willing to read and understand the manual buy that contraption?

 

[Socke]

This reminds me of a bumper sticker I've once seen on an old Toyota Corola.

"I wanted a Lamborghini but I couldn't pronounce it, so I got this one instead"

 

[ywenz]

So the Leica "M" is just as stupid as the Sony here?

The "M" has stood the test of time....

If they had just given it a unique or simple name, they'd have avoided all such silly business (people having to 'settle on' what to call the danged thing). But they had to be all cutesy-pie.

It's tricky labeling a new product with a recongnizable name. You don't want a name whic people will associate with a prior experience. It might give your products an impression that you don't really want.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Shows I'm a linear thinker.

I'm a curvilinear thinker, ::wink wink nudge nudge:: :angel:

 

[bmattock]

So the Leica "M" is just as stupid as the Sony here?

The "M" have stood the test of time....

The Leica M series uses common alphanumerics. Easy to search on.

"Leica M" or "Leica M7" etc. And the name Leica is not as common as Sony.

If Leica's brand name was "Smith," then yes, "M" would be stupid. The "Smith M" would bring back all kinds of stupid and unwanted results.

Sony is a huge megacorp that makes everything from hair curlers to God-knows-what. "Sony a" by itself is dumb - if only because "a" is a word on it's own in English and a numbe of other western languages.

And using a Greek letter alpha (α) is just asking for trouble. Cutesy beyond belief, and Joe Sixpack can neither pronounce it nor enter it into Google for a proper search.

In any case, the Leica M was so-named long before there was an Internet or search engines to be considered as a valuable adjunct to modern marketing techniques.

Believe me, marketing majors learn how to leverage search engines for the benefit of their products these days. Viral marketing, seeded blogs, the 'net is being exploited for all it is worth. "Sony a" brings back dreck, so the name was a very poor choice.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[ywenz]

Oh, I only read your original post, which didn't mention the search engine implications.. but I agree. However I also think sony will come out with the Sony a300 etc... so the concern here is really premature. I'm sure they have marketing people that know better than anyone of use here.

 

[dhartse]

Well, I must be as daft as the boys and girls at Sony because I like 'Alpha'. I don't find greek letters exotic at all, having used them constantly in 10th grade geometry class, and quite a bit in later math and science classes as well. Also, ever heard the phrase "the alpha and the omega," which means the beginning and the end? I think 'Alpha' is a nice choice for a beginning. I hope they stay in the game for a long while and we don't see their Omega dslr anytime soon.

Duane

 

[Andy K]

I think the dumbest-name-given-to-a-product title should go to Ford Motor Company, for their 'Ka' model. Pronounced 'car'. Most people end up referring to it as the Ford Kay Ay.


Ps. Lets not forget Pentax used to make a 35mm *ist.

 

[bmattock]

It's tricky labeling a new product with a recongnizable name. You don't want a name whic people will associate with a prior experience. It might give your products an impression that you don't really want.

A clean break with the past? Sure, if the model name of Konica-Minolta's Maxxum has a negative connotation. I'm not sure it does, but fair enough.

"Sony 9D DSLR" works. Next step up from the Maxxum 7D, yes? And the only search results I see are speculation about the α.

Or call it the Sony Glarnstag. Totally unique. Pronounceable. Already phonetic. Every search will come back with your product, no matter how stupidly mispelled or what badly-formed search parameters are used.

Good Lord. Sony should send me a million dollars now. I'm doing their work for them.

The Sony Glarnstag. I like it.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Socke]

Don't overestimate marketing majors!

They are the guys who name a Mitsubishi SUV Pajero or try to sell a car named no va in Mexico.

 

[Socke]

I think the dumbest-name-given-to-a-product title should go to Ford Motor Company, for their 'Ka' model. Pronounced 'car'. Most people end up referring to it as the Ford Kay Ay.
.

Not here, it is exactly the pronounciation of the letter K in german 🙂

 

[bmattock]

Well, I must be as daft as the boys and girls at Sony because I like 'Alpha'. I don't find greek letters exotic at all, having used them constantly in 10th grade geometry class, and quite a bit in later math and science classes as well. Also, ever heard the phrase "the alpha and the omega," which means the beginning and the end? I think 'Alpha' is a nice choice for a beginning. I hope they stay in the game for a long while and we don't see their Omega dslr anytime soon.

Duane

You're educated. Joe Sixpack is not. There are more Joe Sixpacks out there than you or me.

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.

And Sony is not calling the stupid thing the "Sony Alpha." That would be easy. Read the advert on the side of a bus, 'Sony Alpha' and everybody gets it. Now read the advert on the subway wall for a 'Sony α'. Nobody knows what to call it except the educated or the Frat boys (not necessarily the same). Is it the Sony ah? The Sony Aaaay? Is this a Fonzi thing? I would not get 'alpha' out of seeing Sony α for the first time, and neither will Joe Sixpack.

Lowest common denominator. "Geico - so easy, a caveman could do it." Geico is glad you're educated, but they need all the maroons out there to come to their website too.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[bmattock]

I think the dumbest-name-given-to-a-product title should go to Ford Motor Company, for their 'Ka' model. Pronounced 'car'. Most people end up referring to it as the Ford Kay Ay.


Ps. Lets not forget Pentax used to make a 35mm *ist.

I've never seen the Ford Ka - they don't have them in the USA, I think. But I'd agree, very dumb.

And I believe that Pentax still sells the *ist film SLR, and introduced it at the same time, more or less, as the *ist D digital. A dumb name for either, IMHO.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Cutesy beyond belief, and Joe Sixpack can neither pronounce it nor enter it into Google for a proper search.

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.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Don't overestimate marketing majors!

They are the guys who name a Mitsubishi SUV Pajero or try to sell a car named no va in Mexico.

LOL! El Chevy No Va. Or in Argentina, the toothpaste Colgate. I also heard of when they translated Electrolux's slogan directly: "Our products really suck". 😱