Failure

Sony Qualia, NR500, Betamax, Insight, MiniDisc, ATRAC. Honda and Sony have some similarities. Both japanese, founded after WWII and very successful. But they have also made some notable failures. They tend to stick with an idea for too long, afraid of loosing face. At least Honda takes some pride in their failures. The positive side is that when they believe in an idea they go for it and really try to make the most of it. The Qualia 017 is a great example. Just having the guts to release a high-end MiniDisc player in 2004, costing $2399, 3 years after the iPod revolutionized the MP3-player market, and sporting their own proprietary format is either incredible brave or just foolish. Looked fantastic though with a brass body and palladium coating. The Qualia sub-brand was established by Sony to showcase new technology and there were some really nicely designed products. Like the iconic Qualia 004 projector.