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. . . .
