UNIVERSITAS INDONESIA

THE ILL-FATED SONY AIRBOARD

[This paper is submitted to fulfill the mid-term examination requirement of the Management of
Technology course]

Management of Technology

Muhammad Dzamir A 1706020830

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
INTERNATIONAL CLASS PROGRAM
DEPOK
MARCH 2020
PREFACE
Greetings,

The author would like to express the deepest gratitude and appreciation towards God the
Almighty that provides the author with blessings, grace, and guidance amidst the grave situation
that happened around the world. The author would also like to express gratitudes and give many
thanks to the author’s parents who supported the author in tangible and intangible ways
wholeheartedly. The author is exceptionally grateful to the lecturers in the Industrial Engineering
Department, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia. The gratitude was expressed
especially towards Mr. Irvanu Rahman, ST., MT., MPA. as the lecturer of the Management of
Technology course who has guided and encouraged the author patiently.

Thanks to the Technology Management class, the author has gained extensive and in-depth
knowledge on the process of product development. In the future, the author hopes to implement
the knowledge obtained from this course in his career.

Best Regards,
Author

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 Table of Contents

PREFACE 1
Table of Contents 2
Table of Figures 3
ABSTRACT 4
CHAPTER I 5
INTRODUCTION 5
1.1 The Dawn 5
1.2 The Specifications 6
1.3 Main Features 6
CHAPTER II 8
FROM HERO TO ZERO 8
2.1 The Fall Before War: Hefty Price 8
2.2 Ultimate Struggles: Poor Quality and Usability Issue 8
2.3 Doomed to Die: Internal War 9
Chapter III 9
ANALYSIS 9
3.1 Hefty Price Analysis 9
3.2 Poor Quality & Usability Issue Analysis 10
3.3 Internal War Analysis 10
CHAPTER IV 11
CONCLUSION 11
REFERENCES 11

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 Table of Figures

Figure 1. The Airboard (IDT-LF1) 5

Figure 2. Specification of the Airboard 6
Figure 3. Examples of the Airboard’s function
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 ABSTRACT

Sony was first established in Japan and founded in 1946 right after World War II. It was once a
leading electronic company with creative innovation in its early years. Up until now, there were
many innovations and products that Sony developed. Many were successful and became a
revolutionary technology, but some were destined to be under the rug. An example of the so-
called fail product is Sony's Airboard, which is the topic of this essay. This essay will be divided
into several chapters, there are introductions, from hero to zero, analysis, and conclusion.
Introductions will explain about the product itself, the second chapter will explain about the
factors that lead the product into failure, the third chapter will explain about the analysis of the
factors and what should have been done from the author’s perspective, and the final chapter is
the conclusion.

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Dawn

On the first day of December 2000, Sony, a company well-known for manufacturing electronics
and their innovative concept, launched a fresh and game-changing product. Firstly launched in
Japan as their home ground, Sony had a press release which introduced their latest product at that

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time, called “Airboard (IDT-LF1)”see Figure 1. In essence, the Sony Airboard is a portable, flat,
touch screen liquid-crystal display connected via a wireless radio link to a small base station; a
$1,300 device that rolls computing and video into one unit that can be moved around the house.

The Airboard’s biggest

attractions were its keyboard-less
touch screen, internet connection,
and the video player that
integrates with local TV
channels. During that time, touch
screens were still a new
invention, and lots of people
were fascinated with the idea of
touch screens. With the internet
connection and video player
function, people were quickly
attracted to the Airboard. Figure 1. The Airboard (IDT-LF1)

1.2 The Specifications

In the figure 2 below, you can see the specification of the Airboard.

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Figure 2. Specification of the Airboard

1.3 Main Features

There are several main features to the Sony Airboard:

1) Wireless Access
The wireless is accessible to the internet, which includes: television, video contents, e-
mail. The Airboard consists of a base station equipped with an AV terminal, TV antenna
input, and a modem terminal, and a 10.4-inch LCD panel monitor. Data transmission
between the base station and the monitor employs the newest wireless technologies and
digital compression technologies, which enables users to carry the monitor and access
television broadcast, video contents, the internet, and email.
2) Simple Network Access
By connecting a home telephone line to the base station, users can easily access the
internet, and therefore their emails.
3) Convenient and User-Friendly for Operation
The monitor is equipped with a touch panel, which allows users to select screens by
touching an index screen. Simultaneous display of two different media contents is also
available; e.g. while using the internet, users can view television or video contents on a
subscreen. Lastly, remote operation of AV products is accessible through the touch panel

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 screen. By connecting a video/CS tuner or DVD player to the base station’s external
input terminal, users can control A/V products in the home, using a remote control on the
touch panel screen.
4) Simple Mailing Functions
There are features called “Me Mail” and “Me Internet” with the Memory Stick. The
touch panel is simple to use. One of the highlights is the employment of prediction input
programs, which is Sony’s original prediction typing program that is employed for text
input. In addition, the copy and paste function for images is made simple.
5) Electronic Album Feature
Users can create their own digital photo albums, which can be made simply by uploading
digital images from a digital camera (JPEG, GIF, BMP, etc.) to the Memory Stick.
Figure 3.
Examples
of the
Airboard’s
function

CHAPTER II
FROM HERO TO ZERO

2.1 The Fall Before War: Hefty Price

With its practical function and technologies that were a step a head of the generation, many
people were interested to buy the Airboard. The first Airboard were sold in Japan, with a hefty

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price of 28.000 yen, or if converted into dollars would be around $1.300 dollars. If we compare a
dollar 20 years ago with a dollar now, it would have a different value, with the former having a
higher value than the latter. This means that, at that time, a thousand and three hundred dollars
would be very expensive. As people weighed the price with the function of the Airboard, they
realized that it was not enough for them to spend their money with the privilege offered in the
Airboard.

2.2 Ultimate Struggles: Poor Quality and Usability Issue

As a revolutionary and a head of the time technology, people had high expectations towards the
Airboard. Once people bought the product and turned on the Airboard, they quickly realized that
the quality of the screen was far from their high expectations. Other than the touch screen
technology, the screen itself was sketchy and very ordinary. Others also started realizing that, in
order for them to enjoy the TV and internet connection function, the TV cable and the internet
connection has to be next to each other. Unfortunately, most of them or the people at that time
didn’t have the internet connection next to the TV cable. Concrete walls also played a big role in
lowering the usability of the Airboard. It blocked the wireless connection, making the
approximate distance of the wireless connection from 30 meters to more or less 8 meters only.
Hence, the results were mostly negative reviews from the buyers.

2.3 Doomed to Die: Internal War

The greatest soldier can easily die without any source of food or water. As Airboard slowly lost
its appeal and people lost interest in Airboard, Sony was on a tight budget and limited resources.
Many engineers that worked in the Airboard project demanded for more investment in the
research and development of the project. The reason behind this demand was, in order for the
project to survive, the engineers believed that with more resources they could make slight
adjustments and updates to the Airboard to make it better. Unfortunately, the managers thought
differently. In 2005, during the struggle of keeping the life of The Airboard, Sony had a change
in CEO and several upper management. From this onwards, the new management already
decided and took over the Airboard project. Maeda, who was the inventor of the Airboard, knew

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that his invention was doomed to die. No longer after that, Maeda and several senior engineers
from Sony moved out. In 2008, Sony had finally given up on the Airboard project and was
officially discontinued.
Chapter III
ANALYSIS

3.1 Hefty Price Analysis

Airboard was priced over a thousand dollars. With all the privileges it offered, unfortunately it
still failed to make people buy the Airboard. But a thousand dollars price was without groundless
reason. The LCD for the touch screen was made by Samsung, and the LCD itself cost $250.
Tight budget, a fresh and new invention that would be an era-changing technology, and all the
resources poured into developing the Airboard were all the reasons for the overprice of Airboard.
Sony was trying to get more profit from the hype and to cover the expenses made to develop the
Airboard. From the author’s view, it would succeed if only Sony had grasped the market and had
a stable foundation. The Airboard was a new innovation, the foundation was lacking, and people
were just slowly adapting to the new technology. Akin to testing the water, Sony should have
sold the Airboard with a lower price first, so that more people would buy the product and get
accustomed with the new innovation.

3.2 Poor Quality & Usability Issue Analysis

The quality of the Sony Airboard was below the expectations of many people. Usability was
limited and far from the initial main features it had. Together with the high price of Airboard, the
results were negative reviews from the buyers. From the author’s view, these problems were a
common tragedy that happened when a new innovation first launched. Especially considering
that, at that time, the touch screen and wireless network were still a new concept. These
problems would have been a small stepping stone for the Airboard if it was handled correctly.
Sony should have planned out strategies, adjustments and announced the future plan of The
Airboard. For example, the people who already bought the Airboard would have special
privileges in buying the upgraded and adjusted product of the Airboard, such as trade-ins, longer
warranty, and discounts.

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3.3 Internal War Analysis

With the last life support of the project, the engineers demanded for extra investment in the
project. This was the last struggle before there were different opinions between the managers and
the engineers, and resulting in the project discontinued. From the author’s view, this result
should have been expected. Without a tacit understanding from both sides, whether the engineers
or the new managers, this project would already be destined to be a failure. Would they work
together, plan the best strategies for the project, and work together in harmony, the Airboard
would probably be a competitor of the Ipad from Apple.

CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSION

The sony Airboard would have been a game-changing innovation and a leading technology if
everything goes as planned. Hefty price, poor quality and usability issues, and internal war were
the main perpetrator of the discontinuity of the Airboard. Those three were interlinked with each
other and even if one part was solved, it still would not save the Airboard from its failure. Sony
would have been able to pull the Airboard if, first, the price of the Airboard when it was first
launched was not as expensive as it was, just like testing the depth of the water. Second, Sony
should have been prepared for the negative reviews from the buyers, and made the corresponding
plan as stated in the analysis. Lastly, the managers and the engineers should have come with
mutual understanding of the project, and plan out everything with both supporting each other
back. These served as learning materials as well as reminders for the future innovators and
business managers.

REFERENCES

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Bickers, C. (2001). Sony's airboard makes surfing around the home cool: It may be portable, but
it's also pricey. Far Eastern Economic Review, 164(44), 42. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/208232948?accountid=17242

Yoshida, J. (2012). Failure to launch: Why Sony never got airboard off the ground. Electronic
Engineering Times, (1623), 4-4,6. Retrieved from
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1022316444?accountid=17242

Tim Kelly, Kenneth Li. (2011). Special Report: Sony stumbles: Did Stringer's makeover fail ....
Retrieved March 27, 2020, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sony-stumbles/special-
report-sony-stumbles-did-stringers-makeover-fail-idUSTRE74M0J520110523

(2000, September 28). Sony Global - Press Release - Towards Easy ... - Sony.net. Retrieved
March 27, 2020, from https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press_Archive/200009/00-0928E/

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