If you carry the same brand to benefit from the recognition factor then boycotting all of them is the only consistent action imo.

I get the logic, yes.

Now, Sony has banking, internet provider, insurance, camera sensor, NFC payment companies as well.

Would we also boycott all of these, as well as smartphones that feature a Sony sensor for instance, if the goal is to be consistent ?

I’d totally boycott Sony BMG for life, but I feel it would be the wrong signal to boycott other independent activities, in particular as the headphone devision is one of the last bastion of trying to provide the clearest sound at a fair price, in a world where Beats and Bose are runaway hits.

I don’t even consider Sony products. Haven’t since the PS2. They’re kinda like Microsoft for me. I just associate the name with scummy actions and user hostility so I never even evaluate their products. Been that way for well over a decade now and I don’t feel like I missed out on anything. Apparently their mirrorless cameras are pretty good but I honestly can’t imagine owning a Sony thing.

I’m not boycotting Sony, I just associate their name with crappy products.

I have a Sony CD player from 1984 sitting on my desk, the D5. It's pretty sensitive to scratches on disks (no error correction) but otherwise works flawlessly.

The mirrorless cameras aren't just pretty good, they're the new standard unless you have Canon/Nikon brand loyalty. I can't find the stat right away but IIRC Sony supplies more camera sensors than anyone else for smartphones (or maybe its just the high end ones)

I mean I'm not trying to change your mind, just adding my 2 cents that every piece of Sony hardware I've had was extremely well built and lasted years or decades. I have an old Minidisc player too I dig up every few years to listen to recordings I made back in high school.

I got burnt by apple's airpods in a very similar way. The unavoidable firmware update made my Version1 airpods useless despite everything else being okay. I now actively avoid Apple products because they seem to not care. Same with the battery related slowing down of iphones. The new version of Airpods also did somehting scummy with the NC being toned down after an unavoidable firmware update.

Also, considering how much these thngs cost, too much money gets thrown out when just the inbuilt lithium batteries wear out eventually. I now avoid buying anything with embedded and unremovable batteries if possible.

You probably have a Sony sensor in your phone.

Well, one possible point of a boycott is to send a message to the extent possible. "Infecting users will ruin your brand" is one possible message. The brand's buyers also bought its legacy.

Permanently removing yourself as a customer from a brand does not send a message. It's only good for making yourself feel good. If one wants to send a message, it's imperative to use collective action- organizing or joining an organized boycott. An organized boycott has a specific start and end date and its demands are publicly known. That way the owners of the company can see the dip in their charts.

Well, the people who boycott aren’t silent (see above). Maybe someone younger reading this thread thought “what rootkit?” and looked it up. Maybe now that person won’t buy Sony. I certainly don’t. You know Sony’s marketing research departments are aware that this is a thing. One of the great things about capitalism is consumer choice and the way a negative brand image actually hurts their bottom line and helps their competition. Imagine if Comcast had competitors :)