Well, this is my very first post on these boards so please be kind . The Apple iPod has been an incredible success both here and abroad for the last several years. However, I don't think that is going to continue forever due to several reasons. But before I go into those, I need to tell why I found these boards and the MD format in general. Back in 2000, I discovered MD technology on a trip I took to Japan. At the time, I was still using CD's and MP3's were confined to PC's and Napster. After coming back, I did my research and decided to take the plunge and get an MD Recorder (a Sony R900). Being the only kid on campus with a MD actually made me stand out, and I was impressed with the audio clarity of the unit. Now, I really only used the MD for about 2 years before going MP3. In the summer of 2004, I picked up a 40 GB HDD iPod for a good deal of money (~$500). The funny thing was I didn't buy the iPod to play music, as I needed an external hard drive for my data handling for my Master's. Well, what I didn't know then was I had bought a lemon unit from a lemon product line. The 40 GB iPod unit has over a %30 failure rate, which I didn't find out till recently. Needless to say, I began to have my doubts when the unit first failed only 3 days after submitting my thesis. Ok, fast forward to the present day. My iPod is on it's 4th return back to Apple to be 'repaired'. I am coming to find out more and more that the average life expectancy of an iPod unit is only a little over a year, after that Apple will insist that you buy a new unit rather than fixing the old one. This is not so much a technical issue so much that obsolence is designed into the unit so that the customer will need to replace it after a year or two. They have also had numerous problems with batteries and very recently the displays of the Video iPod and the surface finish of the Nano. So, being the disgruntled Apple consumer, I decided to look for alternatives to the iPod. While there are other units that grabbed my attention (Creative Zen Vision:M to be specific), I was also not crazy about plunking down another $400 for another unit yet. So, I came back to my trusty MD recorder from yesteryear. A new battery is on the way (this one is dead, hasn't been charged in 4 years) and the MD unit is being put back into service. Funny thing is, I wasn't totally decided till I listened to it, and quickly realized that my MD unit is still very good compared to the iPod I had. So, here are my reasons why MD has a chance to still be a viable option to the MP3 player, (iPod specifically). 1. Quality/Warranty: The iPod is quickly being seen as unreliable and Apple's customer service non-existant. With multiple class action lawsuits being filed against Apple regarding everything from battery life to surface finish, many people are now no longer buying iPod's after being burned by these issues (myself, for example). 2. Cost: Yes, cost. This ties back in with the Quality/Warranty aspect. Yes, you have to buy optical disks for the MD, but buying a new iPod every 1.5 years is not cheap either. With the costs of current units heading for $500, I would rather buy a few MO disks then being forced to replace my iPod. 3. Repair: The fact that you can replace the battery is huge. It doesn't seem like it at first glance, but being able to replace the battery would have resolved about %80 of the warranty claims when the iPod first came out. Of course, you wouldn't need Apple or a new iPod if that is the case. Being able to change the battery is now being judged very highly even among competitive MP3 players. 4. Sound Quality: I won't go over the technical details of ATRAC and such, there are better threads then this one I'm sure. But the iPod is not known for it's outstanding sound quality. Also, in order to use the iPod, you have to convert EVERYTHING into their proprietary format, which makes it very difficult to use with anything else. -------------------------------------------------------------- Now this is solely regarding iPod and not so much the other competitors, but with the iPod being the only big game in town as far as MP3 goes, it is the benchmark against everything else. I still like the advantages of MP3, the large storage space and being able to carry them without lugging additional media around is nice. However, the new MO disks are no slouch either, and can carry pretty much all my collection on 2 disks. Sony has several decisions to make. One is whether to chase after iPod in the MP3 area, or to do something that will leapfrog ahead of Apple. I believe that Sony will push it's Blu-Ray format as a replacement to both MO and CD/DVD technology. And that battle has a lot more at stake than even the Apple battle right now. I believe that Blu-Ray, which is the next evolution from MD, is where Sony is going to make it's next push into the handheld audio sector.
