Round 4: Google Vs Sony - Consumerist Comments

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

vancedecker — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:22:32 EDT

Sony, no contest.

Google's products are free, novel, and useful. Any evil has so far been eclipsed by innumerable benefits. Just take the new street-view feature in Google Maps. It just popped in one day to make my life easier. (yay! bubbles.)

Sony makes great electronic products, usually, but makes life much more annoying overall with their stupid proprietary formats such as memory stick/magic-gate debacle and visually pollutes the environment with movies such as Snakes on a Plane and adding shiny LCD coatings to computer screens.

vancedecker

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

JDAC — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:58:21 EDT

ooh, tough choice! Google make the tools that make my job and hobby easier (web developer and photography).

Sony make my PSP and camera...

Damn, Sony it is for the RIAA link.

JDAC

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

strathmeyer — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:23:10 EDT

@urban_ninjya: "First few rounds will be pretty much one-sided. It's like the playoffs, they put the lower ranking teams against the top ranking teams for quicker eliminations, and it's more likely for the top ranking team to make it to the end."

The "first round" will be your only chance to make sure you are choosing correctly.

strathmeyer

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

wessev — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:25:17 EDT

This is why Google is on the list, and why they should make it into the finals.

[www.motherjones.com]

wessev

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Papa Midnight — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:04:23 EDT

This is kind of a lopsided battle... especially since Consumerist is the sister site of Fanboy nation (Aka: Kotaku )

Papa Midnight

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

JustaConsumer — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:38:37 EDT

I have no clue why Google is on the list. I do have a PS2 that is now a paperweight.

JustaConsumer

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

BStu — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:28:07 EDT

@Rectilinear Propagation: I missed voting for them because the other option was more evil. Yet here we have two not really terribly evil options pitted against each other.

BStu

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Rectilinear Propagation — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:55:43 EDT

I mean, I just missed a chance to vote for a company that poisoned dogs...

@BStu: All the previous polls are supposed to still be open for voting. Is it not working?

Rectilinear Propagation

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

asherchang2 — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:56:05 EDT

Google censors Encyclopedia Dramatica and balances "scientology" results in Scientology's favor, in addition to killing google bombs. Boo.

asherchang2

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

deadlizard — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:16:56 EDT

Google has no business being here. It should be in the Best Company in America poll.

deadlizard

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Fuzz — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:05:49 EDT

@BeFrugalNotCheap:
You say that like there is a history of Google doing stuff like that. Which there isn't btw.

Fuzz

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

CyberSkull — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:50:18 EDT

Sony FTW here.

CyberSkull

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

BStu — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:26:26 EDT

What is this? a 16 seed going up against a 10 seed? I get why both should be in discussion, but we've had a series of polls that were evil company vs. evil company, and now we've got sad sack Sony vs. decidedly not evil Google? Is that really fair? I mean, I just missed a chance to vote for a company that poisoned dogs because they actually weren't the most evil of the two that day. Frankly, I'd vote for everyone I didn't vote for to date over either of these two.

And you're seriously reminding of us of how you helped some loser scammer get a free PS3 in making the case against Sony? I still haven't gotten my free PS3. Is that why Sony is evil? Because some customers end up with free stuff they don't deserve thanks to credit card companies?

BStu

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

GeeCee — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:11:56 EDT

Neither of these companies are evil.

GeeCee

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

iDevin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:51:16 EDT

Everyone in my office pool chose Sony to advance. And we work for Sony.

iDevin

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

karmaghost — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:42:27 EDT

I chose SONY even though I own a bunch of their shit, including a phone, battery charger, amplifier, etc. I think their products are great, but things like root kits and proprietary formats (UMD, BluRay, Memory Stick, etc.) coupled with a general sense of arrogance gave them my vote over Google. I wouldn't expect them to make it very far in the brackets, though.

karmaghost

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

BeFrugalNotCheap — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:18:52 EDT

@Fuzz:
And soon Google will hold all your medical records AND provide satellite tracking of your movements for law enforcement agencies and any other goon that wants to keep track of you.

BeFrugalNotCheap

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Fuzz — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:16:58 EDT

Sony, because everything I or family members have ever bought from them has been a steaming pile of dung. And Google gives me free email, picture hosting, document hosting and an RSS reader. What has Sony done for me lately?

Fuzz

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

t_wfl70 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:03:38 EDT

I own many (maybe too many now that I think about it) SONY products. If I'm in the market for a product SONY sells, I'm going to buy SONY. I have never had any problems with their support. Hell last year they sent me a free wireless microphone for a camcorder that I bought from them. I might have had a problem with that rootkit stunt they pulled, but I haven't bought a CD in 10 years.

I have nothing against Google. Never had a reason to.

That said, I had to go with SONY. Because of something they did many years ago. I'm a bit surprised it isn't on their "list" of atrocities. Any of you who played EQ back in the day may remember a place called the East Commons Tunnel. A place where people gathered to buy/sell or trade wares. A place of just plain social goodness. Well for those of you who know about what I am talking about. Remember how it was all there one day and then gone the next? SONY killed it!

Oh well, if anyone needs me I'll be weeping under torch #2 on some EMU server somewhere...

t_wfl70

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

axiomatic — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:57:50 EDT

@sohmc: Didn't think of it that way. good point ;-)

axiomatic

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

sardonumspa — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:31:46 EDT

Which is worse?

{O} Cancer

{O} Kittens

[Submit]

sardonumspa

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

momotalo — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:10:54 EDT

What kind of comparison is this? I know Sony's product, but what about Google? I never heard of their product. I only use it for google-ing.

I have no problem with both companies. Sony's products are expensive, but you can get other substitute products for lesser price. Quality? What's wrong with their quality?

momotalo

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

azntg — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:59:02 EDT

Sony gets my vote by a long shot. Shoddy quality, anti-consumer stance and overpriced goods are enough reasons for me.

azntg

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

m1k3g — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:02:15 EDT

Sony is the biggest piece of crap, couldn't-care-less-about-customer-service company in the friggin world. Those bastards will NEVER get another penny's worth of business from me! I hope they go out of business as soon as possible.

m1k3g

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

mac-phisto — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:45:53 EDT

@dorkins: you bring up a good point, but i don't think they are working with china to censor the internet so much as they are making concessions to provide more access than would otherwise be available. i believe the concept is to stick one's foot in the door with the hopes that one day it will open all the way.

it's an interesting matchup, nonetheless. one company seeks to control by providing unlimited access to its products & services - creating a world full of users & developers. the other seeks to control by limiting access as much as possible with proprietary formats & services - limiting production & development within their product lines & stretching the concept of IP to its very limits.

mac-phisto

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Randomeis — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:19:44 EDT

I know it is my fault for being baited w/ their free song downloads and the BOGO Album deals- but for Sony to close Connect without a realistic way to convert their music to a DRM free state. That earns them a vote from me.

Randomeis

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

mike — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:17:28 EDT

@axiomatic: I think this is done on purpose so that the big condenders go to the "final four". Same thing in NCAA.

mike

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

mike — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:16:01 EDT

I like google. It's kind of like Microsoft...except with a better PR department.

mike

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

dorkins — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:11:51 EDT

@DeafChick: lulz?

dorkins

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

loueloui — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:57:14 EDT

Is it too late to ask for additional features? Maybe we could add a 'both' button. Sony is poison, sure. But Google and their 'Don't be evil' slogan is really wearing thin. Sure, free software is good, but tracking every movement I ever made on the web is not.I guess evil is in the eye of the beholder.

loueloui

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

forgottenpassword — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:51:47 EDT

Ok, this is how I see it.

Since I try not to put too much info about myself on the net (I am paranoid that way).... I figure that google doesnt have THAT much info on me. At least none that could be traced back to me specificially since I surf via a clean laptop & unsecured wifi networks that arent my own. Purchases, bill-paying, & accessing my bank accounts i leave to a different computer that is secure that is only used for those purposes. I dont use google while on THAT computer. I do my searches on the other one (mentioned earlier). Like I said... I am a bot paranoid when it comes to my privacy.

As for sony, I have been gouged & sold defective equipment by them in the past. And then told to go screw when i complained. IMO Sony is an overpriced behemoth that doesnt give a shit about its customers.

To me... at least google is usefull once used carefully (kind of like how credit cards are).

So my vote goes to sony (and being affiliated with the EVIL RIAA puts it over the top votewise).

forgottenpassword

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Verdigris — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:51:43 EDT

I voted for Sony because they were that cause of the fall of the greatest console known to man... long live DC!

Verdigris

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

DeafChick — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:46:38 EDT

I will always remember Sony = Dust. The comments were full of lulz.

DeafChick

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

sprocket79 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:34:48 EDT

I went to the SCEA Christmas party and had to endure the Dope MC's." That alone is worth my vote. Anyone who treats their employees that way should be forced out of business. (No I don't work there, I just know people who do)

sprocket79

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

axiomatic — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:33:34 EDT

Diametric opposites.

Not your best poll Consumerist.

You might as well have said....

Which company is worse?
1. Cute Fluffy Lovable Bunnies
2. Sony

axiomatic

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Buran — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:33:21 EDT

Sony in an instant. I have a PS3 from them just for the blu-ray upgradeability (I am NOT a console gamer) and they lost money on the sale because consoles are sold below cost with the expectation that you'll buy the overpriced ($60) games.

In other words, you can screw Sony by actually using their product because the alternatives will be out of date soon so Sony is, sadly, the only realistic choice at this point. Win.

Buran

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Rectilinear Propagation — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:29:18 EDT

@royal72: The back button should be at the top of your browser. Backspace works too.

Rectilinear Propagation

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

dorkins — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:21:20 EDT

But I would still accept a job with them ... because no company is perfect. :)

dorkins

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

dorkins — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:20:32 EDT

Gee, so few seem upset at Google's cooperation with the Chinese government to censor the web. Just so they can make money in China.

From their corporate philosophy:

4. Democracy on the web works.

6. You can make money without doing evil.

And

8. The need for information crosses all borders.

Where's the anger at their hypocrisy?

dorkins

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Trai_Dep — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:20:00 EDT

Wow, it's like frolicking puppies & nuzzling unicorns versus Sauron & George Bush.

I smell: SHUT-OUT!

Trai_Dep

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Meg Marco — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:06:25 EDT

@sgodun: The companies were nominated by readers, then there was a vote to determine the top 64 seeds. Google got enough votes to be included.

Meg Marco

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

toddvm — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:06:14 EDT

The voting button isn't working for some reason.

toddvm

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

jaydez — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:05:55 EDT

I vote Sony cus Bluray is overpriced and bullied my HD-DVD out of the market.

I can't vote though, gotta do it when I get home. Stupid Thin Client machine.

jaydez

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

AceKicker — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:02:33 EDT

Face it. Even if you had a reason to hate Google, if they offered you a job at their offices YOU'D TAKE IT WITHOUTH SKIPPING A BEAT.

I don't suspect Sony will last too far into the tournament, but this matchup isn't hard.

AceKicker

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

ARP — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:58:51 EDT

In addition to its strident support of stupid DRM, don't forget Sony and all its foolish proprietary formats: ATRAC, memory stick, etc.

Their products are far too expensive for their value now. In the past they could get away with it because of their elegant design or functionality. Now, they're the Moto RAZR of electronics.

Luckily, there's competition out there.

ARP

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

AaronZ — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:53:44 EDT

I <3 Google. I hate sony. 'nuff said.

AaronZ

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

discounteggroll — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:40:55 EDT

this is definitely gonna be one of those "look back twenty years and laugh at our innocence" type of posts when google turns into some diabolical umbrella corp. type entity. Yeah, I went there

discounteggroll

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

FilthyHarry — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:40:34 EDT

SWG. Screw Sony.

FilthyHarry

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

krom — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:36:29 EDT

Google may store our information, but we do so willingly.

Sony meanwhile spies on our computers without telling us and keeps us from using our property.

At least Google lets us use our property whenever we want.

krom

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:34:06 EDT

Do no evil, FTW!

Jaysyn was banned for: http://consumerist.com/5032912/the-subprime-meltdown-will-be-nothing-compared-to-the-prime-meltdown#c7042646

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

urban_ninjya — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:33:55 EDT

@mgy: First few rounds will be pretty much one-sided. It's like the playoffs, they put the lower ranking teams against the top ranking teams for quicker eliminations, and it's more likely for the top ranking team to make it to the end.

Say you have.. #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3. Most likely it'll be #1 vs. #2 at the end. While if you did #1 vs. #2 and #3 vs. #4. You'll end up with #1 vs. #3 at the end.

urban_ninjya

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:33:12 EDT

@EllenRose: Yes.

Jaysyn was banned for: http://consumerist.com/5032912/the-subprime-meltdown-will-be-nothing-compared-to-the-prime-meltdown#c7042646

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

urban_ninjya — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:30:46 EDT

I'll play the devils advocate. Of course the Sony rootkit already trumpts Google.

People don't realize that Google is a privacy violation waiting to happen. The more and more services you use from google, the more and more you can become a target.

Notice how some of the ads seem to track you whereever you go? It's no coincidence that searches you do trigger key words and all the google adsense affiliates will display ads.

Google these days are getting more and more into politics. Imagine the political leverage they can get knowing all the search patterns of pretty much anyone in the world, including our politicians?

I get the feeling there's an evil mastermind waiting to blossom @ google.

urban_ninjya

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:29:07 EDT

@sgodun: It's a seeded Tournament. This is like a #1 seed going up against a #16.

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

mopar_man — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:28:45 EDT

If only Google would start it's own auctions to beat down eBay, we could welcome our new overlord. Until then, Sony gets my vote.

mopar_man

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

mgy — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:28:32 EDT

Is this the most one-sided vote yet?

I don't have a particular problem with sony, but google has singlehandedly put me through college.

mgy

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Geekybiker — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:28:20 EDT

I think google is actually a pretty good company for the most part.

Geekybiker

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

plustax — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:28:07 EDT

I'm voting for Sony in this round mostly because I am a bit bitter that I bought the wrong DVD player. Who knew Toshiba was going to throw in the towel on the HD-DVD when we bought it last Fall.

plustax

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

EllenRose — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:28:06 EDT

Tell me, Consumerist - just HOW do I vote here? I don't see any buttons, and the links seem to take me to similar stories also without buttons. Is using NoScript disabling me?

EllenRose

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

royal72 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:25:49 EDT

where's the "this is a pointless unpopularity contest and has no relevance to anything useful at all" button?

royal72

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

sgodun — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:25:10 EDT

So, wait..... The contestants here are a company that COULD do something but HASN'T, and a company that HAS done something and STILL IS? Am I missing something here? I fail to see the logic in including Google.

sgodun

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

EBounding — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:21:38 EDT

If you're worried about your privacy, you shouldn't be using the internet.

EBounding

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Thomas Palmer — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:18:55 EDT

Are you serious? This is the first time I'm getting involved with this "contest/face-off," and I'm just surprised Google is on the list. It isn't very hard to NOT post any information on the internet that you don't want there.

Thomas Palmer

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

lonewolf333 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:18:43 EDT

Google is scum

lonewolf333

Round 4: Google Vs Sony

Angryrider — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:16:51 EDT

Too easy... Google gives us friggin' $10 discounts and free services.
Sony overcharges us and gives us lame excuses for their poor showing.

Angryrider