It’s starting to get really hard to get a CRT video monitor. This makes me sad. I’ve always been a big fan of the Sony PVM series, but they are not long for this world (limited stock is still available). The replacement is Sony’s LUMA LCD line. Now, go and read the Luma FAQ, especially the question “Is the quality of the LUMA line as good as the PVM?” – their answer? “No.”

So why discontinue the PVMs? Arg.

Apparently they’re still making the 16:9 BVM series monitors, though even that is rather ambiguous. I’ve heard from at least one person that Sony is dropping those as well. This confusion led me to call Sony. Big mistake. Read on to learn how my head exploded.

So, first up, if you call Sony’s Sales number, you’re greeted with a friendly computer that tells you that all the information in the world can be found on Sony’s website. And then hangs up on you.

Now, this is a lie. And, frankly I don’t think it’s right for people make computers do their lying for them. At least give me a minimum wage call center worker who can lie to me. Everyone on the planet knows that Sony Professional is the worst website in the world. Beyond just being a terrible design, it’s a terrible design that contains no real information. Compare that to Sony Europe which has a terrible design which hides tons of useful information.

Anyways, so having been hung up on by the computer at the Sales line, I called the corporate offices. There, a friendly chap pointed me to another number. The person there pointed me to another number. Where, surprise, I was pointed to another number.

And that’s where I met Max. Max is one of these new-fangled voice activated phone interfaces. I really don’t agree with them having names, because I don’t want to be friends with Max. But Max really wanted to help me… buy a DVD player.

Max: “What product are you wondering about?”

Me: “PVM”

Max: “I heard AHT3059XM”

Me: “Hu?!”

Max: (getting angry) “I really need to know what product you’re calling about!”

Me: 0! 0!

Max: (angrier) “PLEASE TELL ME WHAT PRODUCT YOU’RE CALLING ABOUT!”

Me: 0! 00! 0!

Max: “I can’t help you! Goodbye!”

Me: “Arrrrggggh”

Bloody passive aggressive slacker AI program hung up on me. And sadly, that’s the most human interaction I’ve had with anyone from Sony.

And that’s when my head exploded.