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Editorial - Sony Charges to Remove Crapware from Vaios

by , 2:25 PM EDT, March 21st, 2008

Sony is charging customers to remove trialware and other unwanted software from their new Vaio TZ notebook computers. It's hardly surprising that the MacBook Air is selling so well.

Others have dubbed it crapware. It's all that extra stuff that's installed on a new PC that no one wants. But the vendor receives a little bit of money that offsets the ultra-slim profit margins in the cut-throat PC industry. It just goes to show how much baggage the PC industry has acquired

Here's a screen shot from the CTO page for the VGN-TZ2000:


Last year, Dell announced that based on customer feedback, they would make the trialware a configuration option for the customer.

Sony, however, has decided to charge the customer US$50 to have it removed before shipment. The option is called "Fresh Start," trademarked no less. And to get that option, the user must spend an additional US$100 to upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium to Vista Business. Total cost: $150.00.

Apple notebook computers are taking the world by storm, contributing to ever increasing market share for Apple, and daily make headline news as celebrities like Charlie Rose and Martha Stewart rave about their new MacBook Air.

One has to wonder what Sony is thinking. Perhaps they need some executives like Steve Jobs to bang some heads.

Observer Comments

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Close Name:houltmac Posts: 233 Joined: 12 Apr 2007
Subject:

From a purely money-based business perspective I can understand this. I would imagine that at least $50 of the profit on a new PC would be from bundled software. It still sucks though and good business means making your customers happy, which this won't.

Macs on the other hand are kind of the other way around; Apple off minimal amounts (to say the least) to bundle things like OmniOutliner Pro. The biggest incentive for third parties is the free promotion/delivery and good possibility of upgrade revenue. The point is that Apple really don't make a penny from third party software bundling, just good will.

Also to note is that Apple allow you to choose which third party apps you do and don't want to install during a re-install where "recovery disks" for PCs usually don't.

Close Name:Jonkun227 Posts: 238 Joined: 02 Mar 2004
Subject:

At least phrase it the other way around: "For $150 less you can get this system preconfigured with trial software that you might enjoy!"

Close Name:JonGl Posts: 93 Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Subject:

Quote
Jonkun227 wrote:
At least phrase it the other way around: "For $150 less you can get this system preconfigured with trial software that you might enjoy!"


And which, if you decide you don't enjoy, will likely turn your computer into a paper weight, when you try to remove any of it--and all of it, of course, being time-limited, so that you _will_ want to remove it... Yup... Wonderful option!

-Jon

Close Name:Dirt Road Posts: 1227 Joined: 24 Oct 2002
Subject: Remind me again...

Why anyone would buy anything made by Sony? Spyware on music CDs, crapware on computers, products seemingly designed to *not* work with Macs... makes you wonder what little surprises are lurking in the Blu-Ray firmware.

View Name:Guest
Subject: Anti-Sony
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Subject: good stuff
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Subject:
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Subject:
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Subject: Don't bother paying Sony
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Subject: competition
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Subject: Sony is clueless
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Subject: Crapware
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Subject:
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Subject: the MAC is a joke
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Subject: macs are awesome
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Subject: Monopolies ARE good, see!
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Subject: Equivalence
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Subject: Monopolies ARE good, see!
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Subject:
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Subject:
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Subject: Not so...
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Subject: Crapware
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Subject: he he...
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Subject: AT&T should do the same.
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Subject: My 2nd (and last) Viao
Close Name:xmattingly Posts: 165 Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Subject: Apple is about choice

Ppft... no wonder the Windows side of computer retail is eating itself alive from the inside. Giving customers a required annoyance with their several hundred (or more) dollar investment is a heck of a way to lose customer confidence. Ironically, Sony probably makes more profit from the "Fresh Start" gimmick than they do by 3rd party crapperware licensing.

Quote
houltmac wrote:
Macs on the other hand are kind of the other way around; Apple off minimal amounts (to say the least) to bundle things like OmniOutliner Pro.
Yes, and the thing about that is that most people are never even aware of those little inclusions, until they start digging around in the Apps folder. The key difference is that Apple never lets them get in the way, or fight for dominance of your machine (such as media players do on Windows). And if you don't want the apps? Just chuck 'em in the trash: end of story.



Last edited by xmattingly on Fri Mar 21, 2008 5:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
Reply | Quote
View Name:Guest
Subject: PC-Decrapifier
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Subject:
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Subject: Big Deal for nothing
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Subject: Big Deal for nothing
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Subject: Vista already crapware
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Subject: Yeah but...
Close Name:houltmac Posts: 233 Joined: 12 Apr 2007
Subject: Re: Big Deal for nothing

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
Even without crapware, there are still OS options that are just not needed, take up resources and need to be removed. So just format and re-install the OS. It does not take much time. I've done it to every PC I've owned, even my Mac. By doing so, you are guaranteed a clean slate and optimal performance.


I would agree, but as I said before it's not always possible. Many crapware ridden PCs come with "restore disks" which install all the crapware also. Besides, my mom shouldn't need to do that.

There is a lot of broken logic in this thread. If PC guys aren't differentiating themselves then who's fault is that? Are Apple really charging a premium? And on and on it goes. These are all larger topics than the one being discussed, but at the end of the day it's a real shame someone feels they have to do this. It reminds me of those "you wouldn't steal a car" ads on DVDs that basically accuse the CUSTOMER of being a thief.

Close Name:houltmac Posts: 233 Joined: 12 Apr 2007
Subject:

Where did this get picked up for all the numpties to be coming out of the woodwork?

View Name:Guest
Subject: Already obsolete
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Subject: Google News
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Subject: Silly Mac nerds...
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Subject: Sony is not the same Sony
Close Name:xmattingly Posts: 165 Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Subject: Re: Big Deal for nothing

Quote
houltmac wrote:
It reminds me of those "you wouldn't steal a car" ads on DVDs that basically accuse the CUSTOMER of being a thief.
Or, it's also similar to being shackled, then being offered a key in lieu of bribe money.

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houltmac wrote:
Where did this get picked up for all the numpties to be coming out of the woodwork?
Numpties and freetards.

View Name:Guest
Subject: Sony ROOTKIT, BLOATWARE, CRAPWARE
View Name:Guest
Subject: It's all a Matter of Perspective...
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Subject: Yeah, because macbooks are such a better bargain
View Name:Guest
Subject: fuzzy math?
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Subject: PC DeCrapifier
Close Name:xmattingly Posts: 165 Joined: 31 Jul 2007
Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
Let me know when you can get a good Mac laptop, brand new, for $450. I won't be holding my breath.
And... who would you lead to believe that you can get a new PC laptop for $450, that is not a piece of junk?

Just like someone with a PC mentality; unable to understand that "sticker price" does not equal "total cost".

Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2001 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Subject: USB devices in serial?

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Guest wrote:
"crapware is annoying but easy to remove, rather have crapware than a laptop with ONE USB port... "

Uh, buddy, if you're using USB technology the way it's been designed to be used you should only NEED one USB port.

It's not the PC-maker's fault if you buy crappy USB devices that don't have a second port on them for connecting other devices in serial.

All the same, where the heck did you find PC/laptop with only one USB port? Industry standard these days seems to be at least 2, if not 3.


Talk about confused and clueless.

You seem to be confusing USB with FireWire. USB devices don't connect in serial. One uses an USB hub. Find me one USB device that can be used as you describe and which does not have a built-in hub. (Keyboards with ports have built-in hubs, which you can see on OS X with System Profiler.)

The guy was obviously writing about the MacBook Air, which, indeed, has only one USB port. However, that's about all one usually needs on this sort of laptop. It's not meant to replace a desktop. The primary peripheral attached via USB would be a printer, though many people would use a wireless connection for a printer, as well as HD, etc. In any case, it's likely that one wouldn't need to connect more than one peripheral at a time.

Remember, too, that one can use Bluetooth for some peripherals. One can also get quite small USB hubs, usually with 4 ports. The lack of FireWire would be of more concern to me.

My 12" PowerBook G4 has 2 USB ports. Most of the time, I have nothing connected. If I'm using it a lot, I'll often use a portable mouse, which I find a bit less awkward than the trackpad. (I use a trackball with my iMac at home.) Occasionally, I'll have both a mouse and a printer attached, but I do have a small hub (includes a memory card reader, as well) or I could use a Bluetooth mouse.