> (It was this that taught me the heuristic that if you want a piece of consumer electronics with maximum format support and convenience features, it should be the cheapest and most Chinese version you can find; expensive e.g. Sony kit is heavily loaded with "protection" antifeatures.)

Earlier it was Japanese gear from the Akihabara that had that desirable property. Sony didn't participate because they had a conflict of interest: they had bought large film and music studios. Showing again that vertical integration is anti-consumer.