(FORTUNE Magazine) – Brent Schlender first came to my attention in 1979, when I was a grizzled old journalist of 31, and he was a fresh-faced intern just out of the University of Kansas, where he had majored in--of all things--English literature, with a minor in computer science. In those days, no one majored in computer science except the nerds. We met while barbecuing some antelope, and I don't recall the subject of computers ever coming up in our conversation.

Two years later, Brent bought his first personal computer, the original IBM PC, serial number 00000110. Talk about early adopters! Shortly after that, Brent's Dallas apartment was burglarized, and the thieves stole almost everything he owned, including his underwear--but not his computer. Frankly, none of Brent's colleagues at the time had any more idea what that computer was for than did the burglars.

Since then Brent has become one of the world's leading authorities on computers and the computer industry, reporting and writing for Fortune out of an office near his home in San Mateo, in the heart of Silicon Valley. Most recently he wrote our January cover story on Microsoft's Bill Gates, and a few years back he pulled off the unprecedented stunt of getting Gates and old rival Steve Jobs, who founded Apple, to get together for a Fortune cover story that marked the tenth anniversary of the personal computer.

Brent brings to his job the kind of credentials that I believe make for truly informed journalism. Since Dallas, he's worked and lived in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Tokyo. He's covered Central America, where he met his wife, Lorna, a Nicaraguan native, and he's trekked across China. And he's sat down face to face with practically every senior executive in the high-technology industry from Japan to Cupertino.

For his article in this issue, Brent returned to Tokyo twice to find out what's really happening at Sony. Forget all the Hollywood-New York coverage you may have read; this is the real story, reported, as Fortune does so often, with inside access from the very top of the corporation but with an outsider's healthy skepticism. It's a fascinating tale of the threat to one of the world's great brands, filled with drama, insight, and some surprising details.

JOHN W. HUEY JR.

MANAGING EDITOR