Because a soft and soothing chirping noise seems to be the only sound coming from the Australian PS3 launch lines. At least that’s what the following picture would suggest:

I don’t deny that I probably come across as a bit of a Sony hater, but lest you think it’s due to my devotion to some other gaming console, let me enlighten you. Over the years I’ve owned a good many Sony products, from calculators to car audio. And in all those years, I’ve come to find one thing in common with all those products… they’re crap (well, I guess the calculator was ok).

Let me explain a little further…

I’m a bit of a music fanatic and I enjoy my music loud and clear. Luckily, my job allows me to wear a huge set of enclosed headphones during a large portion of the day (reporting and web developing). Now, along with being a music fanatic, I’m also a bit of a tightwad. I realize that a $300 pair of Grados would be ideal, but a) I don’t have that kinda spare cash and b) even if I did, I wouldn’t want to leave those at work where any shady co-worker could walk off with em. So my budget is sub-$30. Now, I currently use an older set of Panasonic cans (RP-HT355). They sound good and they’ve been pretty bullet proof for 5 years now. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the set of Sony headphones I had previous to my current set. Within a month of purchasing a $30 pair of Sony cans the inline volume quite working (how the crap does that even break?). Aside from that though, the sound quality was awful. It sounded like listening to my tunes through one of those cup and string phones you made when you were a kid. I could have gotten better sound from a pair of $4.99 Radio Shack p.o.s. headphones. Strike 1!

For strike two let me just say that Sony car audio componants aren’t called Xplode for no reason. That’s pretty much exactly what they do after 4 or 5 months. Volume knobs quit working. LED backlights die (wtf?). The crappy paint used on the buttons disolves when it comes in contact with human skin juices. And in my case, the whole left channel just dies. It was by far one of the single most horribly eye-opening gadget buying experiences of my life. I now own a Clarion head unit which has been one of my best gadget experiences to-date.

Anyway, I won’t go on further, but I can say that the list doesn’t end with strike two. I eventually learned that if I want a quility peice of electronics that will last, I should steer wide of anything Sony. So now you know the history behind my deep seated Sony-haterism. And apparently the folks in Australia agree with me.