The Interview..
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BW – Hello, and thank you very, very much for inviting me to this interview!
TBS – Well, we thank you for your interest! (smiles)
Torben Ballegaard Sorensen then produces a Serenata, and takes me through it’s functions and demonstrates what it can do.
TBS – The positioning of the product is that of a “mobile music system”, and we felt that there are so many ‘music phones’ in the world that don’t reproduce music in the right way. It is of course also a 3G Phone too - so you can also stream internet TV, music from the web, browse the internet, use Outlook and also conduct teleconferences. However, it is not made as a business phone.
BW – So, there is no camera on the Serenata?
TBS – We felt that our customers who want supreme sound likewise would also want supreme pictures, and they would probably own a high end camera for this. They could then download their images to the phone of course. (picks up phone) You can of course use it with earphones if you put it in your pocket, or you can come home and put it the docking station and connect it to your Bang & Olufsen speakers. It is then that you really appreciate the lossless qualities.
BW – Is the docking station a DECT one, as was the Serene?
TBS – No, we didn’t see a huge demand for that – so we didn’t enable this feature here.
BW – Does it come with an Earset of any kind?
TBS – Yes, it comes with Earset 3 included, and it of course has Bluetooth connection to also synchronise and transmit the music to the car.
BW – I promised not to barrage you with Technical questions, so I won’t.. but I’d like to.
TBS – (laughs) Well, there are the full technical specs in the press pack – and I am sure Peter Petersen (Head of Technology at Bang & Olufsen) would LOVE to answer them! (laughs again)
For me though, the interesting question is who did we make it for, and why did we make it? The point is, that we think in today’s world there is such a lack of quality in the music that people hear - and the one thing is that young people don’t know what ‘real music’ is any more because it is so mp3 compressed. It has now become a game of quantity rather than quality, and we wanted to turn this a little bit ‘upside down’ and say ‘hey – we want to go back to how the composer originally wants you to hear his/her music’ – and you shouldn’t need to compromise, even if it’s mobile.
This phone is mostly used for if you are alone, maybe in your office – hotel room, or during business travel. It’s also nice to have in the hand or the pocket, and David Lewis the designer made it like a pebble.
The Serenata is a little bigger than most phones, as we needed to build in 5 cubic centimetres for the sound – it takes some volume to create that kind of sound! You will also see in coming Bang & Olufsen products the continuity of the ‘wheel’ and as you browse through the album covers on the screen (of the Serenata), you will see it expanded upon more in Bang & Olufsen products of the future.
BW – You mean similar to the Itunes cover library? I think this is really the way the market is being led – and generally what people want. I assume you will have to follow that demand to a degree, then simply improve upon it?
TBS – Yes, exactly. Which we are doing in the next generation. It doesn’t help to have 5,000 music albums and not know where they are!
BW – I think this was the problem with the BeoSound 3200..
TBS – (laughs) Yes, this is true – I have one of these myself, and can only remember some but not all of the album numbers in my head!
BW – Now, as you may be aware – there are a lot of questions that the members of BeoWorld would like to put to you, and I would like if I may to ask you a few of these? There are so many things they would like to know!
TBS – Yes, of course – go ahead, I’m happy about that!
BW – Okay, firstly – we would like to know if you had Bang & Olufsen in your family home when you were a child and growing up?
TBS – Oh yes! A lot of people in Denmark had B&O in their homes, and the true story is that my Grandfather when I was maybe 10 years old sat me down and made me aware that B&O was for those that considered design and quality before price. I clearly remember him saying that, and he was very proud of that system.
BW – So, you were ‘infected’ at an early age!
TBS – (laughs) Well, I was infected somehow! Plus, my parents always had Bang & Olufsen, and whenever they moved house they would buy even more equipment – and this was really a part of my upbringing.
When I was young, the turntable from Bang & Olufsen was really the best – and we had a lot of parties! I actually then built my own horn speakers to go with the system from an old design, and in those days Bass was important!! I then contemplated building my own amplifier, but that was not so successful. (laughs)
After that, my next products from Bang & Olufsen were a BeoCenter 9000 and a pair of BeoLab Penta Active Loudspeakers which I still have today. I later bought the matching Tangential turntable also.
In my home I have the BeoVision 7, BeoLab 5’s, Projector etc - but in my other room I have my older systems.
What fascinated me was that actually 2 years ago, when my system was almost twenty years old – I just added a BeoLab 2 to add to the lower frequencies, and this was SO impressive!
BW – We love BeoLab 2 at BeoWorld also – it’s a great product! Next question.. During the early years whilst you were at Lego, what attracted YOU to B&O and the possibility of working with them? We realise that B&O saw you as an excellent candidate for the job due to your successes at Lego, and they could obviously utilise your knowledge and experience – but what did you see in Bang & Olufsen?
TBS – Well, I think Denmark is such a small country that everybody in Denmark, from all professions and areas are fascinated by B&O, and we are scoring very high amongst young peoples aspirations – and myself too of course. It was always a dream for me to work for Bang & Olufsen, and I always used to read about them – but it was always beyond my expectations that I could work for a company such as Bang & Olufsen, it was just an aspiration.
BW – Were there ever been any moments during your early times at B&O that have really caught you by surprise, or anything you didn’t expect?
TBS – Good surprise or bad surprise?
BW – Either!
TBS – Well, I don’t really know. I of course followed closely what Anders Knutsen was doing, and followed the ‘Break Point’ episode as everybody was very sad that B&O was collapsing in those days. Personally, I thought that maybe the days were over for doing this kind of thing in Europe anyway, and was impressed that they managed to become successful again. In the late 90’s I was buying Bang & Olufsen myself, and personally felt that time between new launches was getting longer and the momentum of Bang & Olufsen technology wise was getting slower.
I felt when I was young that a B&O turntable or amplifier was THE best you could ever get, and when the slogan ‘Philips on the inside, beautiful Bang & Olufsen on the outside” was banded around, I felt this was dangerous. So, before I even started at B&O I had my own dream and vision for the company, and that the company could be revitalised if they could get away from all this.
BW – One thing that concerns us all is that Bang & Olufsen of old is remembered for it’s engineering excellence and build quality, but as we head towards software based products – what will Bang & Olufsen do to uphold this reputation, and can you really do that with products like this?
TBS – That’s a good question, and we think about that a lot. Around 10 years ago, something like 80% of our products were a mechanically based ‘experience’ such as the clamper etc, but in the future it will be around 40-50% will be software / user interface based. So, therefore we started IdeaLab and made it a separate software design area so it could not be dominated by the old mechanical guys. And now, with the new BeoSound 5 that is coming in the spring, the new idea is lifting up our competences in the software side to match the mechanical side. So, both are still dominant – and I think that forever we will be in the ‘physical world’ and there will be a mechanical expression of the product. If we sacrifice that, we just become another software company.
BW – One thing that we all see as a dilemma are replacements for your most famous products such as the BeoSound 9000, which is recognised as a mechanical masterpiece as well as an icon. How do you plan to do this?
TBS – Well, when the CD disappears, which it will do, we need to create similar or even stronger experiences that may not be mechanical alone, but the BeoSound 5 which I cannot talk about too much at this point will be the first of some of the stepping stones to future technology. It is a radical new way of interacting, and this is our ambition.
BW – Sorry to ask this, but a lot of people are asking about Apple/Mac compatibility. A great number of B&O users see Bang & Olufsen as being very similar in a lot of aspects and are slightly disappointed to see everything leaning towards Microsoft based platforms that they see as inferior. Do you have any future plans for Mac?
TBS – We are exploring both Linux and Windows, and at this moment we see Windows as a safer technology platform for us in the short run. We have a good collaboration with Apple in the stores with the earphones in the USA, and are even experimenting with BeoLab 4 – but one thing that we will never do though is imitate. Although I agree that Apple have a fantastic user interface, it does tend to ‘lock people in’ to using Apple products if you say refer to iTunes. Bang & Olufsen are looking to free the consumer, but this is a complicated process due to legal issues and encryptions. We would like Bang & Olufsen users to be able to upload any kind of music, bought or ripped, to our products.
BW – With regards to the ‘stepping stones’ to better future products, there has been some disappointment voiced with the BeoSound 6 – what do you think of this?
TBS – Actually, I did hear some disappointing remarks this summer, and some information was leaked to the market before we could give the full picture of the products. Actually, some of the latest reviews have been very positive on the sound quality because it contains our own proprietary algorithyms in the signal processor.
BW – So, it’s not a Samsung inside then?
TBS – Well, you can compare it to say the (Porsche) Cayenne and (Volkswagen) Touareg. It’s built on the same platform, but the ‘user interface’ is radically different, and the signal processor in the BeoSound 6 (and therefore the acoustic qualities) are different also. It does contain some important enhancements!
BW – People really do need to be aware of that then!
TBS – You’re right, yes – and I think it’s coming through, and we will reinforce that!
(The tightly scheduled 15 minute interview has now reached 21 minutes, and his PA politely asks us to hurry up..)
BW – Well, in that case I must wind the interview up as you have plenty of people to see, and on behalf of BeoWorld I would like to thank you for this opportunity to speak with you.
TBS – Likewise. We like people who share the same values! (smiles)
End..
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All i can say is that it really was like chatting with a friend over a pint! What a relaxing man who always has a genuine smile on his face and a love of what he is doing. It was a pleasure interviewing him!
Lee
🙂
