This post is part of a feature on companies and products that our bloggers think are in need of a makeover. See all 26.

Can we agree that Sony (NYSE: SNE) stumbled when it launched the PlayStation 3? Sales statistics can be looked at from many different angles and spun this way and that. But the bottom line, as I'm sure any Sony fan will concede, is that the PlayStation brand has suffered an agonizing defeat, at least at this point in the current console war. At the time of this writing, the PS3 has sold over 14 million units globally. Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Xbox 360 has sold 20 million systems. And last, but most certainly not least, the Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY) Wii has moved over 29 million units across the planet.

Without a doubt, the Wii has captured the imagination of both the mainstream, casual gamer and a good chunk of the younger generation. And a good many hardcore gamers are in love with the Wii as well. Not only that, but I believe that Nintendo has been able to leverage the popularity of its DS handheld system to convert a lot of those owners into putting Wiis on their Christmas lists. It's sort of like the phenomenon of the iPod selling Mac computers. Add to that the highly competitive pricing of the low-end model of the Xbox 360 (you can get it for $200 here in the U.S.), and you can only come to one conclusion: Sony's PS3 needs some sort of new strategy, a makeover even, to get it back on top of the video-game heap. I'll present a few thoughts, suggestions if you will, on how Sony's management can turn things around.

All my friends and their children are wearing Crocs to the playground, Crocs to the birthday party, Crocs to the coffee shop. All my colleagues are raving about Crocs Inc. (NASDAQ: CROX) stock -- Georges Yared even says Crocs is the next Nike. But: Crocs are just ugly. I finally gave in to my husband's plea and bought colorful knockoffs for the garden (on the family plan no less), but still, I refuse to wear them around the neighborhood and the $30-$40 price tag for the real deal has me recoiling with sticker shock.

Deidre Woollard, my buddy at Styledash, agrees that she won't wear them outside the comfort of her own home, either, but admires Mario Batali for making orange Crocs look good. He's put his endorsement behind the launch of a new line of "Bistro" Crocs (selling at $39.95 apiece) and he certainly wears them, on the set, on the red carpet, on the town.

Will Mario's embracement of Crocs help me -- or you -- overcome their ugliness? I certainly am not rushing out to slap down my debit card for a pair (although I love the orange, actually), but every time I see someone like Mario actually using them I inch a little closer to a purchase. After all, my knockoffs are great for the pocketbook but they do give me blisters once I've been in the garden for a couple of hours... are they really that great?

I keep trying to decide if CROX is the "next Nike." But the thing is this: Nike Inc. (NYSE: NKE) has always been about design; form has always gone hand-in-hand with function and sometimes form trumps function (thus we have people running around in shoes designed for the basketball court, or hiking the stairs at high school in shoes designed for the trail). Nike is cool first and good second -- and Nike is good. I'll happily plunk down $80 for a pair I know will keep me from getting shin splints or instep cramps when I'm running a road race.

I'm not writing Crocs off yet, but it's going to take a bunch more notable indications of their comfort and utility to get me over the ugly hump. How about you?