Won't be buying a Sony any time soon.

[Jack Tingle]

Sony Pictures Television recently screwed Wheel of Fortune contestant Renee Durette out of a chance to win, due to her Southern accent. An accent that is rather like my faded Georgia one. Shockingly, she deemphasized a terminal consonant! (A G as it were.) As a result, I wrote the following to Sony:

"Dear Sirs:

Your recent mistreatment of contestant Renee Durette was insulting and shameful. Ms. Durette has an accent similar to my own Georgia roots. To call it 'vernacular' is an insult. If my wife pronounced 'barn' with her broad New England 'a', would you also insult her by calling it vernacular. If you are too cheap to pay her the modest sum you owe her, may you choke on it. If your judge made an honest miscall, correct it.

I will seriously attempt to avoid doing business with any Sony company until this is resolved. Perhaps forever. It works for me. I haven't bought a Toshiba-branded product since one of their divisions committed treason by selling submarine technology to the Soviets."

Too bad, Sony makes nice e-readers, but principles are important.

Angrily,
Jack Tingle

[bla]

Really? a silly game show? you need to get back in touch with reality lol.. and why are you posting this silly crap here?

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by bla

Really? a silly game show? you need to get back in touch with reality lol.. and why are you posting this silly crap here?

yah i dont think this is important enough to get all worked up about

[David Munch]

I haven't bought a Toshiba-branded product since one of their divisions committed treason by selling submarine technology to the Soviets."

Because soviets are evil incarnated...?

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by David Munch

Because soviets are evil incarnated...?

Well, they WERE evil incarnate, those submarine plans didn't help them much.

I used to think that way about Toshiba, but I'm typing this on a Toshiba LT. What changed me? the realization that none of that stuff is done without the permission of the US Gov't. Official permission? maybe not. But de facto permission, fer sure.

[Jack Tingle]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

Well, they WERE evil incarnate, those submarine plans didn't help them much.

I used to think that way about Toshiba, but I'm typing this on a Toshiba LT. What changed me? the realization that none of that stuff is done without the permission of the US Gov't. Official permission? maybe not. But de facto permission, fer sure.

Not correct:
a) The technology transferred was a Danish co., in concert with Toshiba selling software and hardware that allowed the Soviets to machine silent submarine props, similar to the best Western technology. The Commies did know how to design the props, they just couldn't manufacture them. It did advance Soviet submarine technology and make their subs much harder to track. They're now Russian subs, but they're still hard to track.
b) The thing that got them in trouble was bypassing COCOM review so government officials in Denmark and Japan (as well as the other COCOM signatories) could review the transfer. There were NO government officials involved. That was the crime.

WRT the game show. It is small beans compared to sub technology, but it still irritates me no end when unjust and prejudiced decisions aren't reviewed and reversed. Since other companies make competing products to Toshiba and Sony, I can boycott them with no loss to myself.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

[Teknikal]

I might stop buying Sony myself I bought my dad a kobo mini for xmas there and when I was checking it out it had a better screen than my T1, it seemed faster, the design was pleasing, it was just a really nice little ereader.

It pretty much has all the functionality of the T1 and cost the same price I paid for just my Sony cover, I think Sonys probably lost the market.

[ShellShock]

Probably every company in the world has done something immoral that one could object to, if only one knew about it. Solution: go and live in a hole in the ground out in the back of beyond, where you will never ever have to buy anything ever again. Or you could just stop watching Wheel of Fortune.

[MattW]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

Sony Pictures Television recently screwed Wheel of Fortune contestant Renee Durette out of a chance to win [...]

Angrily,
Jack Tingle

So, which companies do you buy from? I bet one could dig up a bit of dirt on every single one of them.

Matt

[ApK]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Probably every company in the world has done something immoral that one could object to, if only one knew about it. Solution: go and live in a hole in the ground out in the back of beyond, where you will never ever have to buy anything ever again.

Originally Posted by MattW

So, which companies do you buy from? I bet one could dig up a bit of dirt on every single one of them.

That's your argument? If you can't address everything, don't address anything? Better to have no principles and stand for nothing?

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Jack Tingle

Since other companies make competing products to Toshiba and Sony, I can boycott them with no loss to myself.

Regards,
Jack Tingle

There are plenty of reasons to boycott Sony, but this isn't one of them. This is a reason to boycott Wheel of Fortune, perhaps. But it's not a reason to boycott Sony, who didn't make the decision in the first place, and who are pretty far removed from the show. And of course the branch of Sony that makes e-readers is even distant from Sony Pictures TV.

[thomasn75]

Certainly here in the UK the suspect tax practices of many multinationals have been a focus of much attention. Especially when the Amazon big wig turned up at a parliamentary committee claiming he didn't know how much Amazon sold in the UK. Very amateurish. It has certainly made me more particular about were I spend my money. I think it is making a difference. Starbucks was very empty today when I walked paSt on my way to the local tax paying chain for my cappuccino

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by ApK

That's your argument? If you can't address everything, don't address anything? Better to have no principles and stand for nothing?

You missed the bit where I said to stop watching Wheel of Fortune. That is the appropriate response in this case.

[Shopaholic]

I fail to see how Sony or Wheel of Fortune did anything wrong. Prejudiced? Biased? lol Hardly. The show is based on words and pronunciation and enunciation are very important. If someone with an accent sees the word BARN yet vocalizes it with their accent so that it sounds like BURN how are they not wrong?

I fail to see how they were wrong. They lady didn't pronounce the word correctly therefore she was wrong. While it would be incredibly frustrating to the losing person, it still boils down to them saying the wrong word. It's not the first time this has happened. I would imagine she's seen the show & knows how important proper pronunciation is. I don't get it. She's in the wrong.

[MattW]

Originally Posted by ApK

That's your argument? If you can't address everything, don't address anything? Better to have no principles and stand for nothing?

No. My argument is to think before getting upset over nothing. It's a game show. Blaming a completely seperate division of Sony (the one that makes ereaders) for something that may or may not be wrong, strikes me as an overreaction.

Why not stop watching television altogether until the TV industry addresses this glaring injustice?

Get a little perspective. Nobody has harmed you; no injustice has been done. A game show is not a human right, it's a game show. You either play by their rules or you don't. If you don't like the rules, don't watch. It's that simple.

My argument in a nutshell: there are a lot of things to get angry about in this world. This isn't one of them. This is not a matter of principle. Or if it is, it's a principle not worth having.