How do you counter Apple's iPad? With another iPad. That's what Sony's going to do, according to Sony's CFO Nobuyuki Oneda.

"[Slates are] a market we are also very interested in. We are confident we have the skills to create a product...Time-wise we are a little behind the iPad but it's a space we would like to be an active player in."

To be fair, Sony's Reader was the first major eReader in the world, and it was a pretty remarkable product for its time. The Vaio P, while a bit unusable by normal-sized humans, is also a small engineering marvel.

But...oh Sony. I just can't take anything you say or do seriously anymore. I'm trying here. Make you a deal—say that whole piece about the iPad again. This time, I'll do my best not to crack a smile.

Nope, not working. I tried. I tried so hard. [Computerworld]