Naka-sone!

Sony puts kibosh on Aibo

People actually care about dogs huh? Even if they're made of metal and just half as fun as the real thing. Aibo owners are actually sad that Sony announced its halting production (but would still provide support for another 7 years). They've been attached to their $2,000 robopets.

Sony made this decision to cut costs (really??) and focus more on their core electronics business, which had been losing ground for awhile now. Whereas before, Sony used to be the de facto brand when it comes to thinking about buying consumer electronics, people are more inclined to shop around (Samsung actually beat them in their own game).

Sony struck gold with the PlayStation line, but lost badly on the personal audio business when it missed the mark on MP3s. I was so fond of my MiniDisc back in its heyday at the turn of the millenium. Then the iPod exploded, and Sony stubbornly stuck with its guns on proprietary formats (which is now the Achilles Heel of almost-great PSP). Apple bid them sayonara and left them in the dust. And now that Steve Jobs sold Pixar to Disney, it looks like he'll be taking a bigger chunk out of the movie pie that Sony has a sizeable share in.

I haven't really seen an Aibo in action. I also read that purists actually disassemble them to put in more add-ons to the critter (just like geeks hacking or modding their PS toys). But now that its gone, people should just be content on cleaning up after the real thing. On the brighter side (or not), these puppies could now command higher prices on eBay.