dclarke32

The thing is this, Sony screwed up when they included the DRM. Sales and popularity would be sky high if this was a much more user friendly format. The only reason i don't have an I-pod is because of the ability of the minidisc to record high quality now with hi-md. Here is my solution: re-package the format without the DRM, in a user-friendly format, with higher capacity capability and actually market it in some way. the I-pod is running the show because it is easy to use, and is fairly no-hassle. Giving up on a format that a bunch of us like a lot just because you dont want to take the steps people have been pleading for you to take for years is ridiculous. Why quit on the only people who have been loyal to a fault just because you dont want to go the extra step? i am not happy with this, and if this is what the future holds, then the minute they quit on me for being a loyal supporter of their product, then i will quit on their company.

sony will listen, all it will take is apple releasing an i-pod that records in high quality. you have to believe they are already working on that right now, i would say it would be something with less memory, for maybe 200-250 that records as well as any of our md players, only with a much better software component. sales go down, and they start to pay attention. that will be the only way.

i just don't understand how you can tell me to pay for it through your already inflated prices, then restrict me in its use. why bother? just for the option of not having to mess with any of that garbage on these online sites, i would gladly pay the people on half.com whatever they want for an album with only 1 song i like. that way i can put that song on my computer without any hassle and copy it without any hassle. just because of nonsense like that i let anyone and anyone burn a copy of any of my cds just so they don't have to deal with it either. i never used to buy used cds until i saw that they don't even last as many years as they are supposed to new or used, and realized this just means you are renting the music anyway. now if i can get it for less i will, no worries about anything from these online ripoff markets.

others have said you can't compare the 2. that's fine, whatever, but what about sony's own hard drive player vs the ipod in the sense of not which is better, but why isn't it on par with hard drive players like the ipod. minidisc media is a different type of creature, but i assume the sony hd players are trying to compete directly with the ipod(correct??), so what gives? would it be accurate to compare an ipod shuffle with a minidisc player or is the recording capability enough to make it different? seems to me like apple will eventually make their way to something similar to the minidisc market sooner or later. maybe the question is how can sony make the ipod/hd players better so that they are at least on par with one of the apple ipod instruments? is it just a matter of changing the sonicstage software?

seems to me apple had a better marketing strategy with the ipod than sony, considering the 1001 different gadgets you can get for the ipod. i just can't understand why they hang on to their old ways and don't see the light, i.e offer people the ability to use your device for everything(flexibility), that they can think of. this might entice people to buy it. what happens if the ipod can record as easily/well as a minidisc player, in a lesser model(say somewhere between the mini and the bigger unit)? i would say that would just about do it for minidisc here. having an nh900, i can say i would have to think about making the switch myself. i hope this current shakeup allows them the foresight to see why the competition like apple(and all the other mp3 player comp) has always been able to cause them trouble.

what up people i have read this forum many times. i mostly scoured through when i was looking at buying a minidisc player. after the meteoric rise of the ipod, one of my friends decided he might want one. he asked for my opinion, since he knew i had a minidisc player, so i gave it to him, as well as suggested several sites to look at before he made his decision(he recently bought an ipod -- i told him it was an uninformed impulse buy, but what can you do). going through that process i wondered why i bought a hi-md unit instead of an i-pod. that question led me to wonder why everyone here(specifically the moderators like kurisu and aeryn, and people with the most experience), haven't gone to i-pod yet. kind of like ps2 versus xbox. all things being equal, i think people make decisions based on one or two specific factors or beliefs that are just deal-breakers. so what were your reasons for not abandoning sony's format for the one that is supposed to be much more user friendly, stylish, poplular and audio-wise, flat-out better? for me it came down to recording. i record net radio programs to listen to at work, and an ipod really is intended more(in my opinion), to be a play-back mega giant, with less emphasis on overall recording. i believe in the disc-based format(though not always in sony), so i didn't have a problem with that, my friend does(hence the ipod). the minidisc can function all my needs, with an emphasis on the ones that are most important, whereas i don't feel the ipod could(maybe i am the uninformed one, who knows?). what about you guys? i am talking to people with one unit not, both a minidisc player AND and ipod. if you had to have just one.

i know this has been asked before and, presumably sony has a plan one way or another(do nothing or do something), but what about those of us who bought a hi-md unit already and wouldn't mind it being directly mp3 compatible? seems to me like these units were probably made close to the same time as the 1st models if they are ready this quickly(we'll see if this is true), so i would assume sony thought they might have to use them, with competition from the ipod(if you call it that, considering the ipod's success). are we s.o.l. or did they have a contigency plan? i guess the answer will show how forward thinking they are as a company.