Martha Stewart at 'D'
Hey Readers!
To see the original WSJ article, click here (subscription may be required).
Here's Martha giving the business to Sir Howard:
And here's another photo via Flickr:
And here's the Journal's reporting:
'D' Is for Digital -- Diva, Too
June 1, 2006; Page B1
Howard Stringer, chief executive of Sony Corp., had just regaled the audience at The Wall Street Journal's "D: All Things Digital" conference with his description of how he runs a Japanese company without speaking Japanese -- "I get plenty of calming silences," he said -- and opened the floor to questions, when an irritated customer stepped up to the microphone.
It was none other than Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Ominmedia Inc., holding up a tote bag filled with all the charging devices she said she needs to power up the electronic gear she packed for her trip. She held up one device for her camcorder, one for her Vaio laptop computer, another for her digital camera and still another for her cellphone -- until she had a handful of electronic spaghetti.
Martha Stewart complains to Howard Stringer about too many chargers.
"Why can't this thing be this thing?" Ms. Stewart demanded of the Sony chief, referring to two seemingly identical objects.
"Check, please," Mr. Stringer interjected, trying to extricate himself.
But the domestic diva wouldn't be stopped. "Then you need all of these things at all of your houses!" she exclaimed. At which point Mr. Stringer quipped, "You need a native bearer." He did, however, offer some insight. "For the last three years, the most profitable division [at Sony] was the components division," he said, adding that he would look into the matter.
While this episode certainly ranked right up there, Mr. Stringer, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and other digital-industry chiefs at this fourth-annual gathering of technology executives, experts and journalists, found themselves at times in an even more awkward position, overshadowed by someone who wasn't even in the room: Apple Computer Inc.'s CEO, Steve Jobs. As Mr. Gates and then Mr. Stringer answered questions on Day One of the three-day digital schmooze-fest, it was clear that Sony and Microsoft both could be diagnosed as suffering from iPod envy.
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And here's another good blog post on Martha - Howard from Gary Arlen.
