mylo and me

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Tim Onosko <tim () onosko com>
Date: September 21, 2006 2:10:27 PM JST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: mylo and me

Dave:

For IP if you see fit.

I couldn't have been more intrigued by Sony's announcement of a  
pocket-sized communications device called mylo (no caps), during  
Apple's developer conference, last month. With Wi-Fi connectivity, a  
version of the Opera For Devices web browser, mail clients for Gmail  
and Yahoo, as well as a version of Skype, it was right up my alley.   
As a bonus, mylo was designed to play MP3 and WMA files, JPEGs and  
MPEG4 video.  As a Sony product that "gets it" (kind of), mylo was  
reportedly developed (under the radar) in the US instead of Japan,  
and embraces both open standards as well as cool strategic alliances  
(with Google, Yahoo and Skype), I thought it reflected some new  
thinking inside Sony, which has lost its sheen over the last decade  
or so.

More info about mylo on a special Sony site:

http://www.learningcenter.sony.us/assets/itpd/mylo/prod/index.html

My mylo arrived from Sony (i bought it -- it was not furnished for  
review) last Tuesday.  The problem is that its design is deeply  
flawed, the software is too buggy to be of practical value, and its  
usefulness is minimal, at least in its present configuration.  What  
works best is the Skype client, and if mylo sold for $150 (or even  
$200) instead of $350, this alone might justify the investment.  What  
works worst, disappointingly, is the web browser.  The version of  
Opera for Nintendo's DS Lite handheld LCD (a $35 game cartridge) is  
much more usable.  Too bad.  Opera on the mylo just can't read many  
web sites correctly, including the web version of Gmail, and makes  
reading any site a major effort of jumpy, disjointed windows on the  
larger page.

The industrial design is interesting, but not functional or in any  
way groundbreaking.  The screen (2.4 inches diagonally) is just way  
too tiny for reading web text.  It will not play the current version  
of Flash, hence, no YouTube, the current "killer app" of the web.   
Playing video and audio tracks works well, but any number of iPods,  
Zunes or nameless Chinese (or Korean) players will do the same, and  
for less money.

And, when you spend a little time with the thing, you just KNOW that  
there's going to be an inexpensive Chinese knockoff in a year or so.   
After all, it's not proprietary or based on closed protocols.   
(Although Sony's strategic alliance with Skype and Google are  
evident, as mylo includes non-web versions of clients for those  
services.  And they are very well done.)

Finally, it wasn't until I actually had it in my hands that I  
realized mylo was aimed at a much, much younger audience -- maybe  
high schoolers and university kids -- not baby boomer Internet  
crazies and technologists.  But at $350, does Sony really expect  
there to be many kid buyers for this device?

Mylo, in my opinion, is a classic case of overpromising and  
underdelivering.  It has the hallmarks of having been rushed to  
market.  And, unfortunately, it's another example of how Sony can't  
get it right, which is a real tragedy.

I'd love to hear others' opinions and observations of this thing, if  
anyone in the group has any.

- Tim Onosko



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