jazztheglass

I haven't been able to read all of this thread, it's quite gossamer, and as well it should be. There are a few other companies that do make MDs, I recently moved to Japan and they are available anywhere that Sony MDs are sold... Here's possibly what could happen w/ the death of the Sony MD: a 3rd party creates an MD without the cumbersome SonicStage interface, based on consumer desires and wanted features. Could that possibly happen? I was =this= close to bying a Hi-MD player, but didn't because I wanted to save my money for a bit, now I'm glad that I didn't even though I was looking forward to owning one. Truth be told, sony makes wonderful electronic equipment, but winds up destroying it's usability for the consumer with horrid crippling digital rights management... but you can't specifically blame Sony for that. Digital rights management is the catchall safetey net that keeps conglomerate representivies like the RIAA from lauding your product with the misnomer that it was designed to pirate music. Yes, the gist of it is that until the RIAA went bonkers about secure digital music, etc, these products probably would have remained DRM free. The consumer has never needed these options, such as macrovision protection etc etc, but there was always a huge fear that each new technological itteration would destroy the previous means of entertainment dissemination, it's happened time and time again, and it's never ever been true. I want to buy a Nano like I want a hole in the head, I detest Apple, I've read there is a new 2gig Sony netmd w/ LCD available soon, at least thats what I read in a few of Japan's Navi mags... ...but if companies have rights to make 3rd party versions of the MD now, I dont know why barring Sony why they shouldn't continue. It's a shame to buy into a product who's own original manufacturer has abandoned, but still, even if Philips stopped suporting the Comact Disc format, there would be other companies to pick up the slack. If there is consumer demand, the product could continue into the future... perhaps without Sony involved, the consumer may benefit in the long run after all.

I have a feeling I'm going to have to enforce an allowance on myself... Gadget heaven.

Thanks, for the warm welcome(s) and the advice! I'll just get something cheap for the trip and then pick up something good when I get there. Can one find good things in Akihabara, or is that something to avoid? I won't have any problems with the language as my gf is native (my Japanese is a bit rusty, though I've been studying off and on for 5 years...) I got tired of stale Tokyo dialect tapes and have lately just been listening to a lot of music/news/movies... I'm pretty excited about my trip, and I know I'll be around here a lot in the future, the quality and the character of the people here is wonderful... (but oddly, not surprising, you expect MiniDisc fans to be a special breed, & to know their business!) cheers.

I'm moving to Japan within the next few weeks, Usui to be exact about an hour + 1/2 from Tokyo. I've read all of the model differences in MDs, and I've long ago settled on the format as the best choice for personal portable audio... I just can't force myself to buy an ipod... ...Anyways, I'd like to get something like the RH10 or RH910, though asides from the OLED and input differences, I'm not sure I want to spend an extra $100, though getting an almost top tier (under the dh10p) model is tempting. I'm wondering if I should wait until I get to Japan to get an MD, I'm thinking of just skipping the initial format-crash-course and getting an NW-E507 portable player. Calling Sony about these things usually results in more confusion as their staff isn't all that well equiped to give you information about models, features, or what time it is, frankly. I'm not asking, "What should I buy!?"... just wondering if it would be better to wait, I do however need music for the plane ride... otherwise, I might go insane. cheers, (jazz)