Tuesday, November 10, 2009

My Sony boycott

I've moaned about Sony on this blog on numerous occasions in the past. However, unless you visit my gaming blog, you probably wouldn't have known that I'm actually boycotting Sony as a result of my issues with how they run their business.

Having said that, it wasn't really much of a boycott as there weren't that many Sony products that I was interested in buying so it was relatively easy for me to pick alternatives (a boycott isn't a boycott if the company doesn't release anything you are interested in). However, my boycott was put to the test recently.

The missus and I were on the lookout for a new hi-fi system for the living room. While looking at our options, we settled on choosing between three potential models.

The first choice was an expensive system from Philips which could also double as a DVD player (with HDMI output too!). Actually, this wasn't much of a choice as the system was too expensive for our budget. However, the system itself looked really snazzy and, from prior experience Philips products, we knew that the sound would be pretty good as well.

The second option was a micro component system from Sony. It was within our budget and the system itself looked quite stylish (despite my complaints against Sony, I have to admit that they know how to design good looking products). The only problem was, as I said before, I'm boycotting Sony.

The third option was a slightly more expensive system from JVC. Although slightly more expensive, it had the same functions as the Sony system.

Naturally the missus, being the fashion victim that she is, wanted to go for the Sony system which would have been a good compromise between price and form. On the other hand, my boycott of Sony meant that I wanted to go with the JVC. After discussing the choice over lunch, the decision ultimately came down to an ultimatum.

I told her, "we can buy the Sony system if you want - but I'm not going to pay for it. You can pay for it yourself."

And with that, I am now the proud new owner of the JVC UX-LP5.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good for you - sometimes you've got to stick to your principles, even when the other half doesn't understand

Anonymous said...

And that JVC system looks pretty nifty too, if you ask me!

Jokemeister said...

Oh, don't get me wrong, it is a good system (I mean, its not like JVC don't have any experience in building hifi systems - know what I mean!). In fact, its more expensive than the Sony system. When you consider that Sony tend to charge a premium on their products simply for having the Sony brandname (I'm assuming this is still the case - the truth is that I don't pay that much attention anymore), this might mean that the JVC system is significantly better.

However, in this case, the key point was that I was prepared to pay extra to avoid the Sony product.

In other words - neener neener to Sony.