Well…to answer your somewhat rhetorical question…

In the US, an executive is sought after by other companies IF he made the other executives money at his previous job. The question is not whether the COMPANY made money, but whether the C*O’s made money. If they did, then other companies want to hire him. If not, he isn’t wanted, no matter if he ran the best or worst company in the country. Ken Lay had no less than 27 job offers on the table even AFTER his indictment. Only after his conviction were they withdrawn. This is because, despite running Enron into the ground, virtually all of the Enron EXECUTIVES made a BOATLOAD of money, even if the company as a whole totally tanked. That’s all the reason other companies needed to want to hire him.

Now beyond that, there’s another, more specific reason why Sony wants this guy. Sony isn’t evil, per se, they’re simply imperialistic. Sony is unique in that they own a chunk of practically every industry that involves a transistor. From media players to cell phones to computers to movies to music, even the gaming space, both portable and in-home. This leads Sony to try to do NOTHING that might cannibalize another portion of their business. In the end, Sony would be better off if you could download Sony music – or any other, studio (this is critical, people HATE walled gardens) – directly into the PSP, PS3, and Sony cell phones. Instead, in an effort to keep Sony Music sales up, one must buy a physical CD from Sony, then rip it, and then you can only have the music on a single device at once thanks to the DRM.

So, Sony, here’s a thought: If you want to compete, build your brand. I know, you have one hell of a brand already, but you’re not building ONE brand, you’re building a dozen of them. Apple is not successful because their users have to re-purchase a song for every device they want to hear it on. They’re not successful because the user had to manually copy the song 10 different places. They’re successful because they provide an integrated EXPERIENCE, where they click a single button, and the song appears on every Apple device they own, period. (Note: I’m a Linux user, but even a geek who recognizes Apple’s flaws has to admire their distribution systems.) Instead of punishing your customers, REWARD your loyalest customers by allowing any song on the Sony label to be played by an infinite number of devices, provided they’re Sony devices. If a consumer has a choice of buying a song on iTunes for 99 cents, and getting it on their laptop, phone, and…nothing else, or buying the same song on a Sony Vaio, and having it available on their Sony Erickson Phone, Sony PS3, Sony PSP, Sony Vaio, Sony Bravia TV, and whatever else, they’d gladly use your product instead simply for the convenience of not having to download the same product 10 times (or even worse, pay for the same product 10 times!) Sure, this will cost you $9 you could’ve theoretically made (though in truth, they’d just go elsewhere, so without this level of integration, the sale is lost regardless) but you’ll sell at least $5000 of extra hardware you otherwise wouldn’t have. Frankly, Sony, you’re the only company in the world besides Apple capable of selling the entire experience, and you could do so even better than them. Yet, instead, you run 6 or 7 separate companies and you do your dead level best to ensure they never overlap or conflict, for fear you might lose a dollar today. Yet, until you’re willing to do that, you’ll never make 2 dollars tomorrow. You’re in a unique position Sony, you can sell the entire package, the whole big integrated experience. Wouldn’t it be worth losing a little today to profit from practically everything with an integrated circuit tomorrow?

On a more technological note, I have to also point out that part of Sony’s issue is the LACK of a single device that does everything. Integrating a whole universe of devices to be compatible and sync flawlessly is a major achievement that Sony really should strive for, but Apple is admittedly a bad comparison. The iPad, for all its faults (and as a Linux user, I can tell you it has a plethora of them) is the “singularity” device because it replaces practically everything. It’s not the perfect eBook reader, it’s not the perfect music player, it’s not the perfect web browser, and it’s not the perfect word processor. Yet, it does all of this well enough that it’s a viable replacement for all of them within reason, and that’s why it’s the smash hit that it is. Sure, an iPod makes a better music player, but it’s unusable in any other role. A MacBook is the superior Word Processor and Web Browser, but it’s not mobile enough for an eBook reader nor a dedicated Music Player. The iPad works because, while it’s not perfect for anything, it’s viable for everything. It’s the ultimate jack-of-all-trades. Do you think MacBook and iPod sales took a BIG hit when they released the iPad? If not, you’re an idiot. Yet, overall, Apple made enough money to cover the dip in sales of its other platforms, and then many boatloads more. Sony won’t do this at first, the transformation would just be too big for them. However, they can begin by better integrating the systems they already have. Once they make that work, and they realize of their own accord that a minor dip in digital music sales will net them a MASSIVE boost in hardware sales, they’ll see the light.

Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.