Comments

BillyBoy wrote on 8/8/2003, 9:37 PM
Pretty much what I expected. I wouldn't be at all surprised Sony spends more money at marketing and trade shows in the next six months to a year than it paid to buy the entire SoFo line. Remember that was only 19 million, which is peanuts to Sony.

Like I said in another thread long time back, the guys at Adobe, AVID and Apple may have some sleepless nights ahead worrying about how aggressive Sony is going to be. While SoFo was for sure a small fish in the software pond with Adobe being much larger, comparing Adobe to Sony is like comparing a mom and pop hamburger stand to the McDonald's empire.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 8/8/2003, 11:28 PM
Does anyone thing that Sony will allow the Sysop's (the Sonic guys, and wil they now be called Sony guys?) to post on the board as much as they used to? I know many companies don't like their emploies saying one thing on the board and another thing TO their board. :)
wcoxe1 wrote on 8/8/2003, 11:48 PM
If they don't allow it, they certainly destroy the respect that the current customers have for the employees and their work.
tadpole wrote on 8/9/2003, 3:13 AM
Sad thing is sony will limit (if not BAN.. at least HIGHLY censor ) all syop posts - remember, those 6digit marketing/PR guys had the OLD handbook on how to business when they were in school .... & that's how they will operate

its a shame too... i have absolutly LOVED the way sofo comments on there board... NOBODY else i buy software/hardware from has the BALLS to do that (of course i know sofo posts were probably run through/edit a bit before publication)
(and btw - yes, sofo crashed -but WAS NOT because of the way they dealt with customers)

I have seen numerous posts by SOFO reps WHICH would NOT ever be APPROVED for release by any BIG corp because THEY ACTUALLY provided information/answered the QUESTION ASKED!

And ya know the ones that would fit this category cuz USERs would SOMETIMES follow up with something like
"hey! Sonic XXX you SAID 'this' and 'that' didn't happen etc"

Being honest can come back to getcha.. but ya know what.. WE all appreciate it MUCH more than "no comment".. right or wrong.. WE (customers) appreciate that these days... we are not STUPID and we can MASS communicate for once... the rules have changed.

Lets hope sony realizes this.

(best bet - let sofo run everything the way it has been with the EXCEPTION of people in charge of getting Vegas on the shelfs at Best Buy ect...)

PeterWright wrote on 8/9/2003, 3:26 AM
Well said tadpole.

The Sofo guys also post to other forums than their own, too, and it would be a sad day indeed if they were to reduce their participation.

I hope an influential Sony person reads your post and realises what a proud asset it is to have software producers who communicate directly with their users.
SonyEPM wrote on 8/9/2003, 10:52 AM
The software developers will still be able to post in the forums, no changes in that regard.

sincerely,

HR unit 4356.09432.a
JonnyMac wrote on 8/9/2003, 11:36 AM
Thank you for the humor, robo-Dennis [HR Unit 4356.09432.a]. I have worked for a large, monolythic corporation in my past and don't agree with many of the comments posted hear. Just because Sony is big, it doesn't mean they want to piss away a $19 MM investment -- especially since for such a small price it could turn into a much bigger deal than anyone in the industry currently suspects (except Sony, of course).

And thanks to you and your team for a great product. I do more acting than editing, so it's nice to have a product that works so cleanly and so well when I do sit down to edit.

-- Jon McPhalen
-- Dallas, TX

PS: Any chance of a dedicated text (like Digital Video and Audio Production) for DVDA?
vitalforces wrote on 8/9/2003, 11:55 AM
I work for a big corp. too, though with dreams of breaking loose in my own boat as a writer/director/filmmaker. In my company, even though $19 million would only be a deck chair off the Titanic, there is accountability down the line, meaning a middle-level manager or management group somewhere would loose sleep they don't give the proper care and feeding to this new acquisition. Messing up $19 million is a potential firing to a middle-level manager/group....
TheHappyFriar wrote on 8/9/2003, 12:10 PM
I work for a small company, and i'm not allowed to say ANYTHING that could be taken in a bad way about the company. It was quite annoying to not being able to comment on how bad CBS was running UPN when they first got it. The fans blamed us (the tv station) and we couldn't defend ourselves (specificly me because i run the web site).
BillyBoy wrote on 8/9/2003, 1:37 PM
All the pointless speculation about Sony doing this or that is silly unless someone here is on the the Sony Board of Directors or a member of the upper management team. If so, and you're willing to talk please raise your hand. Don't hold your breath waiting for anybody to do that.

While the purchase may have been a big event to SoFo employess who now are Sony employees, on the grand scheme of things it was just another day for Sony who in the past has gobbled up dozens and dozens of smaller companies. Supposedly the lower to mid management type that first had the idea to grab SoFo has now maybe got a pat on the back, maybe a promotion, maybe even a key to the executive washroom if he didn't already have one before.

The one thing most anyone could guess would happen and that we see evidence of it already is Vegas and the other applications now under the Sony roof will get the much needed and deserved marketing and advertising dollars that SoFo simply couldn't afford and Sony won't even blink an eye spending. That will mean more people will become aware of Vegas and more people will try it and switch. That will ensure not only that there will be a version 5 of Vegas, but many versions after that.

How Vegas will evolve, nobody can honestly say... not even the SoFo engineers and surely not Sony management... not yet anyway. The good news is the one big obstacle to there being a Vegas this time next year or some years later has been removed, lack of cash. Say all you want about Sony, one thing for sure, they don't have a cash problem and they are a company well known and respected both in the areas they are in and by consumers.