alcohol

YES, Sony is cheating your money . . . Squeezing it slowly, maximizing every drop he can suck out of you. WHY? It'a long story . . . . . About 10 years ago, Sony invented 2 powerful technology. That's MD and ATTRAC. These two item could have had huge implications on the entire world. With MD, they invented the MD-DATA. Their first MD-DATA drive was the MDH-10. With the MD-DATA drive, Sony made the first MD-Digicam DSC-M1. Sony also invented the 3.5" floppy disk drive in 1981. MD in fact was designed to be the replacement for the 3.5" floppy drive. The music nature of MD was also but one side of it. BUT why was MD restricted to Music only for the past decade? It never became the defacto like the 3.5" floppy disk. This is where Memory Stick comes in. After the DSC-M1, Sony deliberately refused to make another MD digicam. They knew if they want to maximize profit & obtain monopoly. They must not make anymore MD-Digicam nor MD-DATA Drive. This is where Memory Stick comes it. You see, for Sony, their profit comes from semi-conductor sale. Whereas with MD disc, Fuji, Axia, TDK, everyone could make it. Even FABS in China could. (I have personally visited several for my work.) & Sony foresaw that, & so choose to create a new format. The memory stick was born. From day one, they knew they could make memory sticks with several gigabyte. An entire roadmap was made. By using memory stick for data & making MD restricted to music only, Sony would wrestle the media market back into their own hands. The dream for Sony was, Memory Stick (Semi-conductor) would lead them to riches. & Sony created the constant growing demand for Memory Stick, as they progressively raised the resolution size for CCCDs. If you compare the prices a 128MB memory stick with a HiMD blank, you get the idea. Memory Stick was the cash cow. For that reason, they ditched (froze) the MD-DATA ability. The entire world would have changed, if they continued developement of the MD-Digicam & MD Data. In the early days of VAIO promotion, prototype of VAIO notebooks were made with MD-DATA drives. NO FLOPPIES. The ability was there, & it was bound to be accepted world-wide. It would kill the floppy instantly. BUT Sony did not do that. & they never will. HiMD will only be sold as an WALKMAN ITEM. So as to maximize profit. BTW, when Sony finally decided to market HiMD this year. Sony never had consumer benefits in their mind. But rather their WALKMAN market share have been significantly encroached by solid state MP3 players & again saw that out of desperation they must finally release MD-DATA side or other semi-conductor maker would rise to power. Today, most stores don't stock MD-player anymore. 90% of players sold today are MP3 players. Even Sony's own NETWORK WALKMAN can't fight those from cheap MP3 players. You see, even my gf's female co-worker tell her Sony is bad because of the need for reconvertion from MP3 to ATTRAC before they could load the music. (Now, that's really when even woman understand that issue. They are not suppose to know, & like whatever I get for her.) NOW ATTRAC was ahead of its time. Almost a decade ahead of MP3. It has the ability to do whatever MP3 did to the world. Easy upload on the net, great sound, easy for you to FTP from me. There can be no doubt. Once again, Sony made that proprietary. Closed & shut its door. We all knew why, Sony was on its way to becoming a record label. & that itself was dangerous enough to careful limit ATTRAC's ability. Luckily, someone understood the strength of ATTRAC, & made a clone. MP3 was born. & that took the world by storm. NAPSTER was king. Sony's greatest fear came true. Those days I would visit the HMV site, pick an album, then got the song from Napster within 30 secs. So what is the roadmap with HiMD? Hi-MD will always be sold as a portable player/recorder only. Integration with the VAIO PC family is likely. BUT MD-digicam will never happen. It is in conflict with their MS based Cybershot. Nonetheless there is a slim chance, as Sony have ceased production on all CD Mavicas Digicam. The MVC-CD500 is their last model. That means either they have altogether decided Mavicas are too bulky. Or Mavicas should be MD-Mavicas capable of being USB mass-storage. We will know the answer before December 04. It is likely as Sony have successful strunk the entire Cybershot line. & MD based Mavicas will not conflict with Cybershots. Each will fill its own niche. MD was good. Real good. BUT Sony deliverately crippled it. Delayed it. Shelved it. To make more profit from semi-conductor sales. BTW, I had the DSC-M1 before. Then it broke down, Sony offered a cybershot replacement & I took it. Looking back I loved that digicam so much. It was fully functional in terms of functions like today's Cybershot. Full Apereture Priority, Shutter priority. Flash power. . . .

Indeed, that wait is killing me too. & I can't believe it. The thread is asking us to choose MD vs HiMD. MD is dead. HiMD is here to stay. Kind of like the new/old testament in the bible.

A picture is worth a thousand words. http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/200...40526/sony4.jpg It will be USB powered. Which is not a bad idea. BUT it will nice much nicer on my desk on the stand next to my VAIO PCV-V10/W. I have another item in my collection: a VAIO PCG-U3. http://vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/PCG-U3/

My first MD unit was a blue color Sharp MD-11 (circa 1994!). I must report all recordings made during that period are still alive & can be heard today! They have lasted for almost ten years! Meanwhile, I brought my first internal CD-burner in 1998. Over 65% of my first patch of home-made CDs are rotting to various degree from oxidation. ( I have lost some precious digital photos as result.) What’s more, there is no way I can keep my data unless I re-burn my entire collection of CD. I have began that painful process of transferring them to DVD-R. With the arrival of Hi-MD. I am determined to transfer my entire photo collection to Hi-MD. (P.S. the CD with rot were made by Imation, & E-blue. A dark ring appears from the inner edge and eat towards to outside. Some have tiny black dots appearing in random. & NO, I did not get really cheap CDs, I always for the middle price range.) I now use the most expensive DVD I could get. Those stamped in Japan only. By TDK or Pioneer. So kudos to Sony MDs . . . they are a blessing.

http://www.sony.jp/CorporateCruise/Press/2...200405/05-0526/

MZ-NH1 will also be available in gold color. MZ-NH3D will also have one more color: blue. Also some specification changes for MZ-NH1. Cradle will NOW be for charging only! NOT USB/data transfer. To connect the USB, must remove cradle and connect by wire directly. Japanese launch date is 10th July, 2004. Personally, it's much better to use the cradle for USB connection & not charging only. How dumb it is to make you remove the cradle during USB connection! Defeats the purpose of the cradle. Anyway I am still planning on getting the MZ-NH1 . . . The wait is killing me.

Hi, Does anyone know how long it take to fully write a 1.0GB Hi-MD with data only? I suppose those who already has the new NH-600D will know . . .