I think we agree. You remember Sony for things which have no software component. The only software Sony was very good at was embedded software. I still have an original AIBO which sort of exemplifies that.

I just realized that from my window here in Tokyo I can see and recognize the tops of 2 large buildings: NTT (Japanese hardware) and Oracle Japan (foreign software). This is why I was so encouraged by the large acquisition of a foreign software company by Recruit this past week.