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Sony More Trustworthy Than Microsoft 410

Posted by CowboyNeal from the and-nintendo-too dept.
DesertBlade writes "Forrester Research examined the trust that American households place in PC and consumer electronics. Sony, Dell and Bose all recieved a ranking of A+ while Microsoft recieved a C (I know most of you would say it is closer to a F). "Microsoft faces big consumer defection risk. One measure of consumers' dissatisfaction with Microsoft is seen in the 5.4 million households that give it a brand trust score of 1 [distrust a lot] or 2 [distrust a bit]. Compared with all Microsoft users, these at-risk users have higher income, are much more likely to be male, and are bigger online spenders.(see endnote 7) These households know they run Microsoft software but would be just as happy to leave it behind -- if they could." Does Microsoft face that big of a risk?"
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Sony More Trustworthy Than Microsoft More

Sony More Trustworthy Than Microsoft

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  • Dell received an A+? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by flimflammer ( 956759 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @03:52AM (#15032369)
    I must say, I'm shocked, with all my personal experiances with them.
    • The reviewer obviously never called Dell customer service. [angelfire.com]

      LK
    • You have a dell spaelchacker too?
    • Dell Business service is OK for large corporations. Since many people are in these corporations, many people experience good service. This is even more true with a good IT department to handle all complaints and problems with the Dell computer.

      Therefore, many people percieve Dell as good quality, even though the customer service stinks.
      • Dell Business service is OK for large corporations.

        Not in my experience. It's better than service for home users but not by much.

        Dell's award winning service *cough*bullshit*cough* is what got me into building my own PC's. I think the only reason Dell got an A is that service from other vendors like cellular providers, phone, cable companies, Best Buy and car dealerships has gotten so hideously, horribly bad that Dell seems good by comparison.

      • Re:Dell received an A+? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by ryusen ( 245792 )
        To add to the Dell is NOT good with enterprise support: My agency wanted to purchase about $20,000 worth of software licences. After going through all the motions, we got nothing. Our clerk called Dell, they said they had no order for it. We faxed averything over again. Two months later, repeat and rinse. Finally 5 months later, we got three copies of the media and 3 bills, each for $20,000. Dell is going to have to to a lot of make up before they even reach a "b" in my book, much less an "a."

  • Trusting Sony (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pen ( 7191 ) * on Friday March 31, 2006 @03:52AM (#15032370)
    Yep, I trust Sony. That's why I don't mind them installing a rootkit on my computer.

    • Re:Trusting Sony (Score:3, Insightful)

      by tehshen ( 794722 )
      That's the thing, though - many people don't care. "They're installing a what? Root... kit? But I can't play my music without it, so I'll just click OK."

      • Re:Trusting Sony (Score:5, Insightful)

        by sgant ( 178166 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:21AM (#15032450) Homepage Journal
        That's not true though. Many people DID care. Which is why it was all over the news, newspapers, radio...it was everywhere. Even the old-person's radio station here in Chicago was talking about it!

        The thinking of the "Joe Sixpack doesn't care about things like that" is dying out. More and more people, young AND old are getting computer literate. Yes yes, there are still people out there that will never be comfortable with computers and there are people that really don't care...but the majority is changing.

        If people really didn't care, then Sony would have kept up with the Root-kit shenanigans to this day. But they got a huge black-eye from it and have to now build back their customer confidence.

        • Re:Trusting Sony (Score:4, Insightful)

          by elrous0 ( 869638 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @09:59AM (#15033380)
          If people care so much and are so educated about the rootkit debacle, why did Sony still rate an A+ on the survey?

          -Eric

          • Re:Trusting Sony (Score:4, Insightful)

            by Malor ( 3658 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @10:29AM (#15033607) Journal
            Because the data was gathered before the news about the rootkit hit the mainstream media.

            • Re:Trusting Sony (Score:4, Insightful)

              by Total_Wimp ( 564548 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @01:07PM (#15034857)
              I doubt it matters much. If you gave a person or an organization an A+ rating because of years of great experiences, hearing about a single high-profile failure is unlikely to instantly turn your score into an F (axe murder and child rape being notable exceptions).

              Seriously, the rootkit, which statistics say I probably didn't buy, is going to make me forget about my PS2, my last CD player and my camera, which all function pretty darn well?

              I'm not saying Sony is the best company or has the best products. I am saying that people who felt strongly enough about them to give them an A+ before the rootkit are not going to suddenly abandon them now.
    • Yeah and then they blame windows->microsoft that their computer is running like crap.
      • "Yeah and then they blame windows->microsoft that their computer is running like crap."

        Well, they are right, aren't they?

        My Linux desktop runs better than Windows does on faster hardware. I imagine Sony laptops would run better without Windows clogging up the works.

        Windows - when only the most mediocre will do!
    • Agreed, I think thats one of the biggest problems with these surveys. Sony has one of the biggest/widest marketshares/mindshares in the electronics industry GLOBALLY. Of course its gonna get top marks in a popularity contest. Thats like comparing a Ford to a BMW, BMW's cars could explode if you leave them out in the sun and they'd still score higher in terms of popularity.

      Microsoft on the other hand freakin gets slammed every 5 minutes by a different media source, small and large. For crying out loud, Slash

  • Why is Apple's "brand potential" so low? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ereshiere ( 945922 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @03:53AM (#15032373)
    Behind Dell, Gateway (?), IBM (!?)--who at home aspires to buy something from IBM?

  • Trust is one thing... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Soulfader ( 527299 ) <sigspace@gmailDEGAS.com minus painter> on Friday March 31, 2006 @03:55AM (#15032378) Journal
    ...spending habits are quite another.

    I don't much care for Sony nor Microsoft, but that distrust sort of falls by the wayside whenever the next Halo* comes out (or whatever your franchise of choice is). We tend to go with the evil we know and purchase as if we had no choice, even those of us that really ought to know better.

    *Mock away. I like what I like. And more importantly, my wife likes it.

    • I don't think that's the case with all consumers. I've stopped watching TV, most movies in the Theatre (by companies I reject), buying CDs from RIAA-signed artists, etcetera because I either don't like the methods of the industry behind them or the single company.

      I'll be the first to admit it's not always possible to apply this method in all areas, but I consider it the only form of democracy I can exercise daily.

      But it's not hard to do, beyond the checking (and there are websites to do that), because of a
    • I totally agree with this. I was planning on never buying a Sony product again after the rootkit fiasco...then I wanted to buy a stereo. In the store I went to, Sony's product was the best, had the best sound, and was cheaper than the similar Panasonic that had shitier sound. So I bought Sony.

  • Biased summary (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sane? ( 179855 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @03:55AM (#15032381)
    Sony is back in the pack, and no mention of Apple - not exactly picking on the most important story were we? (BTW i before e except after c)

    Anyway, its all 'Brand Potential' and 'Brand Trust' so its all tainted with the marketing veneer of bullshit. I've never worked out how marketeers can get away with 'statistics' that have so many holes they look like a lace dress - but a scientist delivers statistically valid climate data and 'there is too much uncertainty'.

    We have a sick society

    • "We have a sick society"

      Perhaps, but by "sick" I think you mean ignorant or apathetic. My partner is finishing her Phd in marketing, even less people understand marketing than understand "hard" science. Sure it has something to do with surveys, brands and even advertising but they are all tools, they are not "marketing". It would be like me saying that C and SQL are computer science, ( why yes IAACS ), clearly that is a nonsensical statement, well maybe someone in the HR dept would belive it.

      I'm not s

    • Re:Biased summary (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Re: Statistics - Because with a marketer's statistics there's money to made. With a climatoligist's there's money to be lost. Sad and simple truth.
    • I've never worked out how marketeers can get away with 'statistics' that have so many holes they look like a lace dress


      That's because marketeers are in the bussiness of whoring brands. As such, a lace dress fits perfectly.

  • Sony & Dell? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rolfwind ( 528248 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @03:55AM (#15032383)
    Neither of which earned my trust truth be told.

    Sony is obvious, but Dell, besides the lack of quality in certain parts (which could be directly correlated to cheap prices), loads their new computers with tons of bloatware - you have to sit there and remove programs for an hour to get the speed you expect from your new computer and then still, remnants are left.

    This might be standard among the big boys in the PC industry, but last time I got a Mac - I was pretty amazed by the lack of crap (wonders if that will change with Jobs being part-owner of Disney)....
    • S. Jobs would never allow sub-par 3rd party software in a default install of OS X. In fact, Apple as a whole has never allowed sub-par 3rd party software on the Mac. Anytime there is bundled 3rd party software, it is always best-of-class. Jobs, and mostly the company's ethic as a whole, just has too much taste and sense to ruin the user experience with crappy 3rd party software. That would be like a high-end Mercedes shipping with Firestone tires...
      • But before Apple had a browser, they would happily ship IE 5 for the mac as the default browser, is that not 3rd party? Then there is that zip program that you need to register and purchase, can't remember the name. Those 2 are just off the top of my head.

    • Re:Sony & Dell? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Phroggy ( 441 ) *
      Sony is obvious, but Dell, besides the lack of quality in certain parts (which could be directly correlated to cheap prices), loads their new computers with tons of bloatware - you have to sit there and remove programs for an hour to get the speed you expect from your new computer and then still, remnants are left.

      A friend of mine told me about a hardware review site that was reviewing a new Dell PC and tried to play a game on it. The game wouldn't run at all, because the machine was loaded with so much cr
      • heh, just ordered a laptop from dell. That's the first thing I plan on doing when it arrives next week. Then loading WoW. hopefully i'll get it all done before its time for BWL

      • World of hurt (Score:3, Insightful)

        by mcrbids ( 148650 )

        I have considered building and selling my own PCs, so that when clients tell me they're looking for a new PC and ask me who I recommend, I can offer to sell them something good, because I really haven't seen a major OEM I can recommend in good faith.

        Go for it. In fact, I strongly recommend that you do so! Put together PCs from OEM parts. (hint: MA Labs is a GREAT distributor) It takes a $1 screwdriver, a power outlet, about 15 Sq Ft of counter space, and a 3-day prepay for parts. In the US, give yourself a
        • Thanks for the encouragement and the tip about MA Labs; I was wondering about finding a good distributor (to give myself some ballpark ideas I was looking at newegg.com, but although their retail prices are pretty good, they don't offer quantity discounts as far as I know, and they charge per item on shipping which REALLY sucks).

          Have fun with the plane!
    • And yet most people on slashdot get worked up because they don't think Dell has enough crap on their computers to start with! I have some average user friends who bought dells recently, and the amount of crap that was there makes me glad I build my own. However, cheap laptops are a bit harder for that.

  • Oh if only (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LandruBek ( 792512 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @03:56AM (#15032387)
    oh [freebsd.org] if [gentoo.org] only [slackware.com] there [debian.org] were [novell.com] a [redhat.com] way [centos]!
    • Finally got around to installing Ubuntu 6.1 on a spare IBM laptop & I have to say I'm pretty amazed how easy it was. Never really used linuxes before. Interestingly, on that laptop (Thinkpad T23)it installed & is working on a 100gb Toshiba drive on which both XP and Win2K Windows Setup failed. The Ubuntu Setup even partitioned the disk and left alone the windows partition with the failed XP install. Ubuntu does seem to use a lot of CPU (fine tuning needed?) I'd like to fully convert everything over
  • As it is now, Linux/BSD and Macs lag behind on games, and Linux on desktop speed. Both have some form of compatibility problems, and Macs are expensive. As it is, Windows is the only choice a lot of people have.
    • As it is now, Linux/BSD and Macs lag behind on games, and Linux on desktop speed. Both have some form of compatibility problems, and Macs are expensive. As it is, Windows is the only choice a lot of people have.

      Some of that might have been true in 1998. Linux today offers speed, games, compatibility and system stability Bill Gates can only envy.

      Linux desktops have always been faster on the same hardware than Microsoft but this is much more true today. Shared code really does make a difference in memory

  • The perfect C (Score:5, Insightful)

    by roshi ( 53475 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:02AM (#15032401)
    I disagree (that MS is closer to an 'F').

    Microsoft is the ultimate 'C'. They have built an empire on being just good enough. I mean, a *lot* of very useful work is done on windows the world over, it can't be classified as an abject failure.... but man, it sure is lackluster.

    Yup. The very pinnacle of mediocrity. That's the microsoft way.

  • Microsoft isn't going away yet... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Starker_Kull ( 896770 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:06AM (#15032414)
    They still have tremendous inertia in the marketplace. How long has it taken for the general public to have the same perception of Microsoft as a typical /.er? The biggest problem is that Microsoft has gotten people to believe that computers are inherently unreliable, unstable, and buggy - so that people EXPECT such behavior from any computer, not just one with a Microsoft OS or application software on it. As long as a large number of people expect crappily behaving computers, Microsoft's position is secure. In a similar manner, Microsoft has acclimated the business world to the idea that a standalone PC is incomplete without anti-virus, anti-spyware addons and a dedicated IT staff to maintain them.

    On the other hand, businesses tend to hold onto computers and custom/favorite apps much longer than individuals do. Apple may have a shot of displacing Windows from household computers, as many people become more savvy about what they need a computer for, which can usually be covered by web browsing, email, document reading, picture viewing, video watching, and music listening, and are willing to pay a bit so they don't have to constantly tinker with their systems. I think replacing Microsoft in the enterprise world will be much harder.
  • The whole damned report is biased. It's like a Slashdot poll!! Only yuppies by Bose. It's the names the average joe hardly knows that sound best. Klipsch, Energy, Definitive Technologies, A&R, Sunfire, and too many others to even mention. /rant - Just had to sound off

    • Re:Bose is for yuppies (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Suddenly_Dead ( 656421 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:14AM (#15032428)
      How is it biased? Like you said, the general public does trust and buy Bose, hence the survey got them an A+. It was a study of USian attitudes towards different brands, it wasn't a test of sound quality or anything.

      What's the problem? And who modded you up?
      • Reminds me a story about an elderly lady wanting to buy a computer for his grandson.

        She went to a computer shop and asked for the brand "Hajdú"* because she said she trusts real quality.

        *Hajdú was a washing machine brand in the 70s in the communist era, in Hungary.
    • Not just yuppies. People with a lot of disposable income would be more accurate.

      I know a retired railroad worker who has had a Bose wave radio for years.

      LK
    • It is not about what you buy, it is about what you trust.

      Difference: you may trust something but decide you cannot or will not spend the money asked.

      I trust Rolls Royce to heve the best customer service any car manufacturer will offer. Still, I drive a '87 VW Golf with no chance of customer service whatsoever.

  • Risk? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Max Threshold ( 540114 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:14AM (#15032429)
    "Compared with all Microsoft users, these at-risk users have higher income, are much more likely to be male, and are bigger online spenders . . . Does Microsoft face that big of a risk?"

    Not as long as most people are poor and stupid!

    • Not as long as most people are poor and stupid!

      M$ has always thought of their users that way. That's part of their poor reputation.

      Don't worry, people with money and education have a tendency to lead and those without follow eventually. The tipping point has passed, it's all downhill from here.

  • Anyone else notice the oddness of the /. heading? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Suddenly_Dead ( 656421 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:18AM (#15032440)
    Being trustworthy is not the same as being trusted. Some companies are not worthy of trust, but recieve it due to the ignorance of consumers (and vice versa).

  • Depends Who You Ask (Score:3, Informative)

    by przemeklach ( 905526 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:20AM (#15032448)
    I find these types of surveys useless. I've been running on the same install of winxp for the last two years. I've had no serious viruse and a little bit of malware. I don't find that the system runs any slower then it did the first day, although I'm sure it is, and I would give winXP, from my experience, a B. Having said that. My friends, who incidentally are in the same computer program as me and thus have the same technical know how, are constantly complaining about windows, how slow and crappy it is. I quite frankly don't know what their problem is. So saying that M$ should recieve a C is pointless, because if they asked people like me about it instead of people like my friends then they would do better then a C.
    • I agree, and during uni i was happily using windows to actually get work done so I could spend at least 85% of my life getting drunk while the hard core linux zealots spent days on end in the computer labs fiddling and tinkering but ultimately not really eacheiving anything.

      Thing with linux is it really does inflate peoples sense of self superiority because it makes you jump through hoops to do the simplest tasks.

      Sure I use linux for servers a lot but I do all my actual work on a windows machine.
    • I also have no problems on my 2 year old XP Home system, which has never been reformatted/reinstalled.

      That might be because I'm smart enough not to click on popup ads that say "Click Here To Optimize Your Internet Speed!" and so on, and also do not download and run files from pirate/porn sites.

      Also I sit behind a $25 Belkin NAT 802.11b router. Other than that, just the simple precautions outlined above kept my XP humming along dandy for 2 years.

      XP gets a solid B from me. BTW I dual boot SuSe 9.2 and I am no

  • The Business Model keeps them Safe (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Aqua04 ( 859925 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:22AM (#15032453) Journal
    You see, the problem is their amazing "toll bridge" business model. Sorry to repeat an old fact, but in 1997 Jeff Raikes described it in a letter to Warren Buffet [theregister.co.uk], where he basically stated "What we have is a toll bridge, where every new PC has to pay a Microsoft fee." Back, then they got $45 for every PC license. On top of that they have their "finished goods" business that heavily relies on their entrenched Windows OS. That is an AWESOME fact, and an amazing lock in, which will be super hard to break unless they really, really fuck up their business relationships somehow.

    They don't even have to fuck up the technology that much. I mean look at the delayed Vista, its been five years and no one has been able to touch them. Microsoft knows that. That is why their software really only has to *just* work and *just* be useable enough. Their domination is based on that amazing business model they are in, nothing else.

    The question is what are YOU going to do about it ? Are you going to keep paying the fee ? If you're an OS maker, are you going to work, not only on the technology, but on the all important business relationships, including working on disrupting MS's relationships ?

  • Bah (Score:3, Funny)

    by GrumblyStuff ( 870046 ) on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:29AM (#15032478)
    Damn proles always throw surveys (and elections) out of whack.
  • Does Microsoft face that big of a risk?

    As big a risk as Microsoft losing it's monopoly anytime soon.

  • ...about as far as I can throw them. There was a time when I thought their software was easy to use and learn stuff with, right around the Win98, Office 97, Visual Studio 6 days. I found the interfaces simple, usable, and didn't get in my way. Of course, this was all when I first started learning about computers and how to write software, so all of this was a new experience for me.

    But as new versions came out, the interfaces got clunky and bloated, with features I didn't need, and the software felt less rel

  • Sony, Dell, and Bose? (Score:5, Informative)

    by hunterx11 ( 778171 ) <hunterx11@g3.1415926mail.com minus pi> on Friday March 31, 2006 @04:54AM (#15032541) Homepage Journal
    I'm no huge Dell fan, but they do what they do well--they sell computers for cheap. But Bose, and to a lesser extent Sony, pretty much base their business on being overrated. Bose would go out of business if it sold its products on their merits, and Sony would certainly get a run for their money from many other competitors who currently have a much smaller marketshare.
  • Sure. Beheading is also less painful than hanging. Still, neither is something I would consider painless.

    The comparative degree is a wonderful construct in language. Because it only compares 2 items and measures them relative to each other but doesn't say anything about their absolute values. And not always, if even often, the comparative degree is "better" than the positiv degree.

    Example:
    How're you feeling?
    Well, I'm doing better.

    Would you consider this information that he's doing "better" to be superior to

  • Spin it a different way (Score:4, Insightful)

    by caluml ( 551744 ) <slashdot@spamgoe ... minus herbivore> on Friday March 31, 2006 @05:01AM (#15032562) Homepage
    Or to spin it a different way: Microsoft less trustworthy than Sony. :)

  • What about hardware? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by hahn ( 101816 )
    I find it ironic that Microsoft's core business is software which is probably what the grade is based on. It's ironic because hardware is one area which they have actually had quite a good track record. They make very VERY good keyboards and mice. I never hesitate to get one when I need a replacement. Their fingerprint reader works pretty well. And until they stopped selling it, their 802.11b wireless routers were some of the very few on the market that even my mother could setup and worked quite relia
    • I agree about mice (although logitech is better IMO), but whoever started fucking around with the function keys on the keyboards (they don't work anymore unless you press f-lock), should be ****, *****, ***** and ********* and then have his **** ******* off.
  • Yet people trust Dell and Gateway, which only really sell computers with Microsoft software installed on them. Why wouldn't their ratings be dragged down with Microsoft? In fact Dell appears to be the 3rd most trusted brand there.

    I suspect the fact that people never had to choose for themselves to buy a Microsoft product is a big part of why they aren't inclined to say they trust them.

    I think people are more likely to say they trust something after they made the conscious decision to go with it so that t
  • The survey seems to induce a little bias among the choices. It is a little inexplicable.

    1. All companies except MS is there for thier hardware products.
    2. How many people know that MS makes hardware? Wouldn't this automatically align his/her mind to think in terms of quality of hardware? (Oh... Microsoft, I don't have any MS gadget. They should suck, I dont even know them!)
    3. If the trust is so low, why did MS still have the most profitable quarter ever last month?
    4. MS hardware tend to be of very high qual
  • How many of them qualified what they meant by "trust" - did the survey qualify it?

    Trust to produce a quality product?

    Trust with your details?

    Trust with your life? :)

    Microsoft makes much more visible, complicated products. If you have a bad experience (for instance with a Netgear router) you may say you don't trust that company again and never buy any DIFFERENT products even though faults are unrelated.

    Windows is obviously more prone to failure than a pair of noise-cancelling headphones or a MiniDisc player.
  • First of all, I'm amazed that Sony is considered trustworthy after their rootkit. Guess no-one ever went bankrupt underestimating the public, right?

    Secondly, this confirms to me what I've been thinking for a while; now is the time for application and games devs to quit windows and go linux.

    The only thing holding most people back from switching is games and that single application which they must use (well, in my case it's maple, matlab and 3dsmax :)). And the games...kids want their games, and they'll preve
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