After reading this post over it occurred to me that many people might perceive it as being just a troll post - this isn't the case. I love MD (I've been using it for yonks), but I think it's time to tell it like it is: As a long time MiniDisc user (and one of the people who spent months trying to hack the NetMD data protocol to allow recorded track downloads and uploads using apps other than OpenMG), I can say without a doubt that a big part of the reason this problem exists is because of the way that NetMD and Hi-MD technology were introduced. After hearing all of the problems with the original NetMD implementation (the ridiculous 3 check-out limit, the inability to download recorded sound from the NetMD units through USB, along with many other software related issues and annoyances with OpenMG, which was an atrocity of usability) and therefore subsequently waiting off to upgrade to NetMD due the very high prices of the new units, by the time the users did shell out their cash and migrate to NetMD, thinking that it was "the new MD platform", they were surprised with the announcement of Hi-MD. Suddenly, just as their original MD units weren't of much use any more when MDLP-enabled players were released, their NetMD units again wouldn't be of much use when Hi-MD was released. Could it really be expected that the majority of users would want to spend *another* $800 a year later? $800, for a portable music player! Sony dropped the ball. In their foolish attempt to force people into using proprietary systems like ATRAC3 on the MemoryStick Walkmans, they made themselves irrelevant in the modern portable music industry of the iPod, with its wide-reaching advertising (for the record, I've never seen an MD ad anywhere) and, most importantly, *simplicity* (something that the NetMD system certainly lacked for the majority of users). So I guess what I'm saying is, the reason Hi-MD didn't take off quickly in Australia was because people perceived them as not being worth the money compared to other technologies like the iPod, and for those already using MD, not worth upgrading to when they'd already spent a lot of money on NetMD units and been burnt by all of its hassles. There were too many changes in the technology too quickly. Had NetMD never been released and it'd jumped straight to Hi-MD, things would have been very different. It would be a great shame to see Hi-MD fade into oblivion in Australia because Sony wasn't willing to advertise it properly. When there are cheap iPods and innovative new devices ike the iPod Photo, is it any wonder that MD is being left behind by a large proportion of the music-listening society who just want a reliable, reasonably priced and user-friendly portable music player? Hmm, I love MD, I don't want to see it die in Australia. Let's face it though: if you mention an iPod, even your grandmother knows what you're talking about. Mention MiniDisc and most people don't know what the hell it is... even though it's been around for over a decade. If one of the biggest consumer electronics, music and motion picture companies on the planet can't get MD to be a cultural icon given over 10 years to try, yet the iPod - the invention of a computer company that has always been considered the underdog - can become that in just a couple of years, what does that say about Sony's performance? One of the biggest mistakes Sony ever made was having an internal conflict of interest between its music division (regarding copy-protected CDs, etc) and its Walkman division which relied directly upon it, and was subsequently crippled by the DRM/OpenMG/whatever restrictions from that music division. On the other hand, the PlayStation Portable is one of the smartest things Sony ever did. Clever product design that *delivers what the customer wants*, rather than restricting them.
