Jeez. No contest. Anyone who votes Toshiba has never used a computer for anything beyond browsing that thar Internets.

The problme with Toshiba is that never really got behind HD DVD. The put HD DVD on the market and seemed to adopt an attitude of "If we build, they will come".

HD DVD could have won the format war if Toshiba had promoted it better and been quicker about integrating it with the Xbox 360. Instead they seemed content to let the format die a quick but painful death.

While MS has improved the 360 repairs division substantially, no company that drops a $350 dollar fail box for two years gets off scott free.

I like how we have both the major HD-DVD players going up against eachother. Toshiba doesn't stand a chance in this matchup, though.

No offense to the person who nominated Toshiba, but I appreciate their holding on to HD-DVD as long as they did. Don't want to start a format discussion here, but I made an informed decision based to cost-benefits to pick HD, and appreciate Toshiba trying to win (albeit too late to actually do anything useful).

Don't forget, Microsoft is going to take Yahoo away from us. Do they really want google to be the only search people use?

MS's proprietary formats and poor OS are why I voted.

More people use PCs than hi-def equipment.

XP is wonderful when compared to Vista's clunky, confusing interface.

I have both, but since everytime I play a videogame in the back of my head is a "please don't die", I vote Microsoft.

I have a toshiba laptop with windows on it.

I'm so confused.

Toshiba released the more "baked" hi-def solution, then failed to market it properly. (I've got a combo player now, so I know both formats.) This shouldn't qualify them for "worst" company as much as maybe "inept."

I'm a longtime user of Microsoft's stuff, and there have been good times (XP) and bad (ME). My 360 has been running just fine since 3 months after launch, so no complaints from me in that department -- and Xbox Live is vastly superior to the competition.

Don't get me wrong, they've definitely got problems (and perhaps a touch of evil). I just don't think they're much worse than any other large corporation.

Microsoft definitely deserves to win this round, but I'm not sure they'll survive the second. I'd pick any credit card company over MS.

@Wormfather: its okay. switch to ubuntu and problem solved. :) oh, and vote for microsoft

Toshiba's hardware issues and support service incompetence is no match to M!cros0ft's complete detachment from reality...

Toshiba. Illegally sold highly sophisticated machine tools to the Soviets during the cold war that were used to mill quieter ballistic missile submarine propellers.

I gripe a LOT about Microsoft but they never contributed to helping me become a vapor cloud...

Ouch. I wound up voting against my own submission. Microsoft is even worse with regards to inhibiting choice.

Well, commenter Buran is an idiot. They were out just a few months after WB sided with BR due to a larger amount of BR discs sold out of the WB catalog.

"Inhibiting the high def war" my ass. If they wanted to nominate Toshiba for increased support of Nuclear power, that would be one thing, but man, the reasoning that Buran said is just retarded. Probably some idiot Bluballs fanboy.

Microsoft, hands down. This one isn't even fair.

@artki: Volkswagen made jeeps for the Nazis. Toyota made trucks for the imperial Japanese army. Those "Zero" fighters? Proudly made by Misubishi. I'm sure Nintendo, Bosch, Siemens, Nissan, and many other companies got war contracts for our former enemies as well. So did Ford, until FDR put the kibosh on that. What's your point?

Microsoft. Because they are Microsoft. But also because they supported HD-DVD too.

Microsoft in this case; I can't really fault Toshiba for trying their hand at something, and Microsoft made Windows. No contest.

@Wormfather:
LOL.

reply to Steaming Pile...

My point is that the Japanese were on OUR SIDE during the cold war and this company (toshiba) sold us out.

Yes, Toyota made trucks for the Japanese army. They're a Japanese company! Don't you see the difference? It's the difference between fighting a war on the wrong side, losing and reconcilement and selling out your allies.

Definitely no contest. Microsoft all the way.

@wolfjoat: Agreed

Anyone that voted Toshiba doesn't use a computer that runs an MS OS or has worked for MS as a contractor.

Toshiba because my 360 works but the 62 inch TV I bought less than 2 years ago doesn't. And even though I'm willing to cough up the $700+ to fix it it's been 3 months now and the parts still aren't available.

Screw you Toshiba.

@Steaming Pile: That's true enough -- I know someone who refuses to buy German cars because he's Jewish. I asked how long one can hold a grudge, and pointed out that the people who run, say, VW, today are not the ones who ran it back then -- and also that back then, that's how it was everywhere in Germany. Commerce is worldwide now.

When Hitler envisioned his inexpensive reliable "people's car", he thought that it would enable Germans to travel and enjoy a higher standard of living than they had in the past, especially after the inter-war years when morale was poor.

Instead, not a single KdF-Wagen was distributed under the coupon-book savings scheme ... but the Beetle, as it was later known, became a well-loved icon of the "hippie age".

In the United States. Not in Germany.

Whodathunkit?

But that's the funny way the world works.

(this is NOT a Godwin attempt; please do not take it as one)

Toshiba has many more faults than simply fighting for their dead format.

MS has their faults as well but they know when to quit and when to buy out.

I appreciate the pain-in-the-ass that is a format war...

but have you SEEN Vista? The only reason I can tolerate it at all is because of Lifehacker.

AND THAT'S HOW YOU CROSS-SELL!

Toshiba is bad and so is MS. I voted for MS because they didn't integrate the HD players into the 360, like how Sony had BR built into the PS3. This fact is why BR won and MS are bastards.

O comeon. I'm not a MS fanboy by any means, but who hasn't been in the midst of the BS HD-DVD stuff? I wouldn't buy Xbox360 if you gave me the cash for one. You guys have your Halo, I'll keep my PC games.

@Gridneo: Digital audio tape, my butt!

This is a no-brainer. Microsoft is the evil empire of software. I hate them with a passion. Forcing Vista on consumers is unforgivable. Then, instead of extending XP until Vista is fixed, they tuck tail and run to Windows 7--which will likely have a couple of year's worth of glitches after it is released.

And umm...I guess that means Vista isn't going to get any better because all R&D will be reserved for Windows 7. Gee thanks Microsoft for making people buy a product even its own company doesn't stand behind.

I am sick of the Microsoft merry-go-round of operating systems and I am not playing anymore. We didn't need a whole new rickety operating system for pretty Aero icons. Sell that crap as a add-on package and leave the rest of us the hell alone. When the time comes when I can no longer use XP, I am buying a MAC. I never had an interest in MACs until Vista. But Microsoft can only anal probe a consumer for so long. Enough is enough.

Microsoft is king of the pointless upgrades in order to turn a buck. But forcing a substandard product on people for a buck...well, they have now gone too far.

Microsoft can kiss my ass.

Why is this not on the mainpage? why do i have to click on the link to vote? is microsoft padding the consumerist pocket?

@Blinkman: I'm not an idiot just because you disagree with me.

This just isn't fair...

Despite the flop that was HD DVD, Toshiba still makes some of the most reliable electronics on the market while still being affordable. I tell customers all the time "Same high quality standards as the top of the line, but without paying more for the name".

@Blinkman: I kinda agree with you. There is nothing wrong w/ competition, and I See no reason why toshiba should have had to get out. Buran probably wanted the government to come in, and dictate which format we use. And since not everyone can afford 1080i, make a maximum resolution of 540, so that we can all have equal quality resolution.

As far as this debate goes... Toshiba didn't bribe national standards bodies to get HD-DVD declared an ISO standard...

Microsoft and not only their forced obsolescence of operating systems but trying to force you to buy new peripherals on top of it.

MS trying to force people into using Vista is really the last straw. If they succeed on pushing XP out of use I will go back to using Mac.

@Bladefist-미국사람: No, I didn't. I nominated them because even after it was clear a winner had come out, Toshiba kept on dragging its feet, drawing out the conclusion of the "war". Part of good behavior is knowing when to admit you're wrong and step aside.

Wherever did you get government intervention from my nomination!?

the xobx 360 is the worst console ever. Some of the best games, but worst console. I'm including the sega 32x in this also!

@Buran: It was half sarcasm. I read a lot of your comments, and I took a political shot at you. All in good fun of course

@chrylis: Shhh - we have to save a few arguments for the semifinals!

@Buran: You said: "Ouch. I wound up voting against my own submission. Microsoft is even worse with regards to inhibiting choice."

But Toshiba was a bad company for inhibiting one brand to win? Huh? So do you want choice, or do you want it made for you? WB announced they were Blu exclusive on Jan 4th. Toshiba announced the death of HD DVD on Feb 19th. That's what, 6 weeks? Atonement was the last HDDVD disc I can recall being released, and that was March 18th, one month after the announcement that Toshiba would discontinue the format.

Toshiba provided what they believed would be best for them and their relationship with consumers. Sony/Matsushita did their format. One won, and it was less than 2 years (April 06 and June 06) that the war was decided and over.

So, how did Toshiba keep fighting when they lost? I don't understand. Maybe in your brain it makes sense, but if you look at the dates, everything seems reasonable. 6 weeks to announce the death of the format, and another 1 month until the last disc was released? Is that unreasonable for a giant company? Formerly exclusive HD discs are already getting street dates, like Batman Begins.

So, how do you argue your "opinion" again? Lewl GSO.

The arguments used in nominating each of these companies are a little flawed.

Toshiba lost the HD optical format war, but placing all the blame on the loser and none on the victor is revisionist at best. Sony and Toshiba should have worked it all out together long before products hit the market. It's also notable that the HD-DVD format was complete on delivery while Blu-Ray now has multiple, incompatible formats.

The defective XBOX 360 console comment definitely sticks, but 'very hard for customers to get warranty repairs'? I'm personally grateful that the warranty was extended to 3 years. Especially since my system went t.u. after a year. The repair process was fairly painless though, and I had a working system within a month.

Vista is available in 4 flavors (not counting retail vs oem vs upgrade vs full). You don't need a 'super-fancy' computer to run any of them, though something built within the past two years will certainly do a better job than a machine built with Windows XP in mind.

@Blinkman: 6 weeks is an eternity to some, especially in the electronics business. It struck me as footdragging. I recognize that different people have opinions. Nothing wrong with that.

What I take offense at is being called an idiot, a retard (that's about as far from the truth as you can get) and similar derogatory terms just for having an opinion and daring to make a nomination.

I think some of the other nominations are silly (my opinion, mind) but I don't insult others for making the nominations. It's uncalled for.

@Bladefist-미국사람: I see by your avatar, that you're an idiot, so I'll make this simple. There IS something wrong with competition if it inhibits a larger market.

In a broader sense this why the rest of your comment was drivel, because the whole reason of regulating a market with legislation is because private companies are too stupid and/or short sighted to take anything into consideration other than their own profit, which hurts the larger economy. Luckily Toshiba bowed out, as they very well should have (too bad for you HD-DVD fanboys, it was an inferior product), but if they hadn't, then some extra-market regulatory force should have come in to stop them, lest the entire HD market suffer for the greed of one small group. This is why government regulated economies thrive (the EU, China, India, and the US before that piece of shit Reagan), and why economies that don't, fall into decay (such as the US now, and any third world country on the planet).

The rest of your comment just made no sense, and sounded like the same libertarian shite that I hear spewed out every morning by the crazy homeless guy at the train station, the one who keeps trying to eat his own face.

Isn't flaming fun? :)

Yay for Microsoft, because they make me drop to the ground and lovingly, licentiously french-kiss the ground every morning in gratitude that I'm not using a WinTel box. Even if it does make me cough up hairballs until lunch.
No, wait. I guess that's a vote for Microsoft after all.

Err, they graciously kept their OS open to malicious hacks and viruses to generously allow Norton to become a $billion-company?
No, wait. That doesn't work either.

Okay: they own Bungie.
No, wait. Bungie's leaving them in a righteous huff.

Zune!
No, wait. That really doesn't work.

Damn it.
DAMN it.
Damn it!

(cough) As you were.

@Lambasted:
"Microsoft can kiss my ass."

Amen, brother.

Aside from hawking their latest steaming pile of crap known as Vista, I have another reason for hating Microsoft: buying up all my favorite game developers and ruining my favorite game IPs. I was pissed off when they bought FASA Corporation (ruining the Shadowrun IP in video game format and eventually killing off MechWarrior). I was very pissed off when they bought out Bungie (thus killing the Myth series, one of my favorite RTS IPs ever, now that Bungie no longer owns the IP).

Now they want to buy Yahoo, buy a stake in Facebook... I even found an article amusingly declaring that "Microsoft Buys Evil From Satan". Whenever Microsoft sees money in a niche they haven't dominated yet, their knee-jerk reaction is to simply buy the company that currently holds the leader spot. It may make good business sense, in truth, but that's what makes Microsoft the company we love to hate.

Amazing how people still need a 'good vs. evil' analogy as an anchor to reality. Cowboys & Indians, USA vs. USSR, Red vs. Blue.