There are a few negatives there for sure, but I think you're missing a couple of the ups too. The playstation for example was very successful, and is often credited as making gaming more popular and cool with 'normal' people.
They've messed up a few things, but they still make good consumer products. I purchased a SONY TV and Blu Ray a year or two ago and I'm very happy with it.
They're clearly not perfect, but to say everything they've done since the walkman has been a disaster isn't really fair.
Oh come now. Their products mostly suck. Their support sucks. The Playstation, they did okay on, only now it turns out that if you bought one, crooks have your personal information. They cut corners on consumer security.
Their laptops have tremendous numbers of mechanical failures. Their eReaders are slow, have glare, and have serious usability issues -- e.g. the page turn buttons are located in a spot where you can't comfortably press them. They bought Minolta, and ran it into the ground -- they've been promising a successor to the a700 for close to 5 years now without being able to ship. The lower-end cameras are innovative, but have serious, serious usability issues. The Minolta 5D was a wonderful camera. The early Sony successors copied and improved on it (a700 was the most usable camera ever made -- and the only one with a useful auto mode). The current ones made a new, broken interface. The support is gone -- warranty issues don't get fixed, and if you buy from Sony direct, heaven help you if you want a return.
Your TV and Blu Ray aren't bad, but a bit overpriced and slightly lower quality relative to the competition.
But that's not the point. 20 years ago, Sony was like Apple or Trader Joes. You couldn't go wrong buying from them. The quality was spectacular. Sony products didn't break. Today, you go wrong buying from them 95% of the time. 5% of their products are market-leading. They ship known defective products. It's a very different company.
In terms of bringing gaming to the masses, you're thinking of the Nintendo, first with the NES, and many years later with the Wii.
No I was definitely thinking of the PlayStation. The first playstation during the 90s was often found in nightclubs and places you would never previously have seen a console. They made it look cool to ordinary people.
I can't speak for all of their products, I only have a couple, but I've never had a reason to complain.
I'm not apologising for them, they really have screwed up with this security thing, but I think it's disingenuous to claim they've only made crap for the past 20 years when there are some very obvious exceptions.
You are correct -- there are a few exceptions, and the Playstation was definitely one. Therein lies the difference:
1960-1985: Sony is the gold standard for quality
1995-2010: Sony makes crap, with a few exceptions
Out of context, this may seem like a small difference, but the difference is huge. In the late 50s and early 60s, Sony did not ship a color TV for over a decade because they weren't convinced they could get the quality good enough. When they finally shipped in 1966, Trinitron had brighter pictures than the competition, and the TV sets never broke. The things were expensive, but they were built like a tank. Until the mid-90s or so, every Sony CRT had a full metal cage. You paid a premium, but you got quality.
Today, the majority of Sony products shipped are overpriced lemons. The Sony of yesteryear would never have shipped them.
I think you are going a bit overboard, sure Sony may not be the Sony they were in the 80s or 90s, but they do still make quality hardware.
The Playstation 3 is probably the most reliable console (hardware wise) out of the current generation consoles, I have not had any issues with mine and neither has anyone that I know personally, I can't say the same for the Xbox 360.
I bought a Sony Vaio Z 13" a few years ago and it has stood up to a lot without any issues, sure it may be very light and feel a bit "plasticy" but it is surprisingly tough.
Both of my brothers bought Sony LCD's a few years ago and they have not had any issues.
A friend of mine works in the geek squad as a home theater installer and by far the least reliable name brand TV's are made by Samsung, Sony is one of the more reliable brands.
They've messed up a few things, but they still make good consumer products. I purchased a SONY TV and Blu Ray a year or two ago and I'm very happy with it.
They're clearly not perfect, but to say everything they've done since the walkman has been a disaster isn't really fair.