The Petition to Sony Requesting that
NetMD Provide Audio Uploading to PC
Eric Woudenberg, August 2002
The Petition
A letter (en français) and proposal
(en français) were sent
sent to the presidents of Sony's US and Japanese divisions in May
2002, pointing out the importance of having a NetMD audio uploading
function. A petition
of over 2000 signatures was gathered from May to August 2002 and sent
under a cover letter
(en
français)
to
Sony headquarters in Japan, USA, and Europe.
Sony USA's response (en français) was
received in September 2002.
Letter Writing
Although the petition has ended, an effective way to advocate this
enhancement to the Minidisc format is to write a letter directly to
the heads of the US and/or Japanese divisions of Sony. A postal letter
is a sincere indication of sentiment, and when these arrive at a
person's door it makes the issue difficult to ignore. Their addresses
are:
Nobuyuki Idei
Chairman and CEO
Sony Corporation of Japan
7-35 Kitashinagawa 6-chome
Shinagawa-ku Tokyo 141, Japan
|
|
Howard Stringer
Chairman and CEO
Sony Corporation of America
550 Madison Ave, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10022-3211, USA
|
You are also welcome to use or modify our NetMD upload request to Sony. It is best if you
use it simply as a template and create your own version, it will carry
more weight that way.
In writing to Sony, I think it is important to consider how you would
feel if you were in their position. I can imagine that Sony may indeed
be considering adding NetMD audio uploading capability to Minidisc.
If so, they are certainly weighing the needs of their Minidisc
customers, market interest, and the concerns of the recording
industry. Were I in that position I am sure that cogent, thoughtful,
good-willed persuasion from the customer base would have a positive
effect on my decision.
The point is that angry and hateful words will not be helpful in
furthering this cause. Sony holds nearly all the cards here and, in my
mind at least, the most effective approach is a respectful tone that
alerts Sony to the fact that users are suffering from Sony's
inattention to the problem. I would write them as if I were writing
someone whom I have a good relationship with, but who is unaware of
how their actions are causing a problem for me. The idea is to
helpfully address the problem; if enough people do it well, Sony is
certain to return the favor.
