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Hi-MD, Bye-MD?


Christopher

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Looks like that doesn't matter any longer...

Sony won't stop existing...MD will, so why wouldn't connections matter anymore? k. is the owner of a HD-based player as well as an NH900 and runs atraclife forums and MDCF... I guess it matters even more than ever... don't we all want to know what type of recorder will replace PCM-HiMD before everyone else? :lol:

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as they aren't selling any (Hi)MD's :P , there should be no concerned (Hi)MD-customers and no (stock-market) problems when they announce they demise of the format... so Sony: just bite the bullet and let us know whether we can expect HiMD to stay as a (semi)pro-recording tool or if there are 'other technology based alternatives' planned... because, as should be clear by now, even without harassing kurisu for more precise answers (give the guy a break, he's kept us up to date as much as he could without ruining his relations), (Hi)MD as a standard consumer product is no longer *sigh*

I am sorry if you think I am "harassing" Kurisu. That is totally incorrect. I was raised to tell the straight-honest truth. If I cannot provide the truth, I won't say anything about a subject. What I mean is I would simply hold my information until I could speak the truth without dishonoring myself or anyone who may have taken me into their confidence.

My apologies to to Kurisu, and anyone else if my too-direct way of speech has put folks off.

It seems I suffer from being an American AND a Texan.

Edited by lamewing
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sorry lamewing, I surely didn't mean it that harshly...but I meant k. has let us read between the lines long enough to be absolutely sure there won't be (Sony) MD in the future... no need to have even more confirmation IMHO... next question is: will it only be dumped as a consumer product (and HiMD will stay as a higher priced semi-pro recording tool) or is it total anihilation? and what will be the alternative for us amateur recordists

PS: I feel sorry for the DAT-tapers that had just made the switch to HiMD (there were a few here on MDCF IIRC) and they have to move on once again (at least when their current set-ups die)

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Looks like that doesn't matter any longer...

Well, looking at the whole picture, my gut feeling is, that MD stays alive.

Nearly 2 million units shipped in the last financial year is still quite a number.

Sony must tackle its problems in the marketing department.

Sony has become nearly invisible, no wonder that everywhere you look, you see - Samsung.

And from personal experience, I know what happens, when a business becomes invisible due to lack in marketing and advertising.

My 0.02 Euros about that.

Btw. I have decided to stick with MD. I'll stock up on discs and a few recorders and that should keep me afloat for quite a time.

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sorry lamewing, I surely didn't mean it that harshly...but I meant k. has let us read between the lines long enough to be absolutely sure there won't be (Sony) MD in the future... no need to have even more confirmation IMHO... next question is: will it only be dumped as a consumer product (and HiMD will stay as a higher priced semi-pro recording tool) or is it total anihilation? and what will be the alternative for us amateur recordists

My main question is somehting Kurisu might be able to answer, though. Okay, Sony wants to dump MD/HiMD. Did all the other companies pass on HiMD or did Sony keep it for themselves...and destroy it in the process?

Well, looking at the whole picture, my gut feeling is, that MD stays alive.

Nearly 2 million units shipped in the last financial year is still quite a number.

Sony must tackle its problems in the marketing department.

Sony has become nearly invisible, no wonder that everywhere you look, you see - Samsung.

And from personal experience, I know what happens, when a business becomes invisible due to lack in marketing and advertising.

My 0.02 Euros about that.

How about they stop making crappy low end players and give us a coupe of nice units versus the low end junk aid squarely at the consumer market. I have already paid $400.00+ on more than on occasion, I would keep doing it if there was a solid product.

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sorry lamewing, I surely didn't mean it that harshly...but I meant k. has let us read between the lines long enough to be absolutely sure there won't be (Sony) MD in the future... no need to have even more confirmation IMHO... next question is: will it only be dumped as a consumer product (and HiMD will stay as a higher priced semi-pro recording tool) or is it total anihilation? and what will be the alternative for us amateur recordists

I am just curious to know whether the new software (connect I think its called) will support MD/Hi MD, or if us minidisc users, are stuck with SS 3.2...and thats the best it will ever be, I still hope to get a couple of years out of my players, even if the products are not in the shops

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My main question is somehting Kurisu might be able to answer, though. Okay, Sony wants to dump MD/HiMD. Did all the other companies pass on HiMD or did Sony keep it for themselves...and destroy it in the process?

I don't think anyone can really answer this - Sony said from the first Hi-MD announcments that the technology was open to others. How true this was in practice we can never say. Onkyo was the only other manufacturer to make HiMD units.

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I am just curious to know whether the new software (connect I think its called) will support MD/Hi MD, or if us minidisc users, are stuck with SS 3.2...and thats the best it will ever be, I still hope to get a couple of years out of my players, even if the products are not in the shops

at least we got an SS version that allows multiple uploads and un-DRM'ed ripping of music before they decided to stop caring :P

thanks MDCF for pressuring Sony into giving us those benefits!

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don't you all think that these weeks we are waiting for are a little passive? what about a petition that every member of this forum could send in direction of Sony's staff.

We used to make it in the past.

personnally, I would say the whole Sony MD units I've bought ( and I made my family/friends buy)since 1995 (personnals, decks , bookshelves, boomboxes, car units ), that I hope Sony let me buy HImd decks, Himd units , md camcorder,etc..

BUT : I would also say to Sony that if they kill MD before it gives its full potential, I WILL NEVER MORE BUY ANYTHING FROM SONY ELECTRONICS OR SONY MUSIC ! NO SONY DVD RECORDER? NO SONY PLAYSTATION FOR MY CHILDREN! ME ALIVE NO!

Sony, you will never be the inventor of the HD walkmann, its to late: if one dream it , APPLE made it.

BUT YOU ARE the inventor in the early 90's of the removable recordable media that we all dreamed if you just let it grow and listen who has been supporting the format in the past.

Blackmail? just Love and Hate

Anyone here has Sony Direction email adrees?

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I'm rather frustrated right now. Not that it matters anyway, but I really enjoy/enjoyed the MD/Hi-MD format. I loved the flexibility it offered, not to mention the sound quality.

I'm frustrated because Sony doesn't TRULY understand why they failed with minidisc. How is that I (a lowly business owner) can see what Sony did, and they can't??

:::EDIT:::

I'm in full agreement with garcou. If I knew a petition would work, I'd sign one (and get all of my friends and relatives who I converted to MD) in a hot newyork minute. If they do indeed eliminate the md format, I will not buy anything from Sony Electronics. No HD whatever, no PSP, no PS3, no Sony phone; nothing

I"m also aware my little boycott really won't do anything, but I can't (with any personal integrity) support a company that doesn't see what it really has regarding Hi-MD. The MD/Hi-MD format is NOT in the same category as flash-based players or hard-drive based players. It's in its own league.

Edited by sant430
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I don't think anyone can really answer this - Sony said from the first Hi-MD announcments that the technology was open to others. How true this was in practice we can never say. Onkyo was the only other manufacturer to make HiMD units.

And the Bufalo unit. I hope that Sony will open their license to more manufacturers if they are no longer interested ...

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How is that I (a lowly business owner) can see what Sony did, and they can't??

I guess you speak for a whole lot of MDCF-members (and other MD-users) out there! but to answer your question...because

  • we use the stuff daily
  • we care about the stuff....really care!
  • we do not want Sony to make profit by lowering production costs, but by listening to consumers...which is proposterous in the business world
add whatever appropriate
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It would seem to me that Sony should stop chasing Apple for the number one spot regarding music players. For the near future, Apple (unless the screw up or stop innovating) holds that title. Sony needs to accept the fact that they aren't number one and instead make a solid product, market it, and provide solid support for said product. Are they SO concerned about being number one? Hubris is not a good thing when it comes to business. Sony has been just throwing HiMD after HiMD and DAP after DAP to the market hoping something will compete with Apple.

I don't know what I will do in this situation. Maybe buy a couple of HiMd recorders, maybe a player and just keep them for the next five years. AFter that...who knows. I am really upset with Sony in any event.

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.........I don't know what I will do in this situation. Maybe buy a couple of HiMd recorders, maybe a player and just keep them for the next five years. AFter that...who knows. I am really upset with Sony in any event.

That's where I'm at. I'm thinking of picking up a used nh900, maybe another nh1, and one or two rh10's (that orange one always screams at me when I look at it). Hell, I just bought a Sharp SG11 this morning!

I'm really really angry at Sony

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add whatever appropriate

There is a nice german word: Betriebsblindheit.

Betriebsblindheit describes, when those responsible lose sight of important details.

Details, that could prove fatal when missed.

But very often, these details are very obvious to an outsider.

Let's see, if Sony could be cured from 'Betriebsblindheit'.

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Btw. I have decided to stick with MD. I'll stock up on discs and a few recorders and that should keep me afloat for quite a time.

Nice. B)

If you have insider info which you say you cannot break confidences over, why even mention it to us in the first place? What I mean is why get everybody so concerned about it until something is announced? It is pretty obvious that Sony is abandoning the technology.

Uhm, duh, it keeps people coming to the site. ;) If I was cut and dry, it wouldn't be very effective news reporting; I want people to be thinking ahead -- speculating, helping this product evolve..

My apologies to to Kurisu, and anyone else if my too-direct way of speech has put folks off.

It seems I suffer from being an American AND a Texan.

No apologies necessary.

I'm serious.....

Is there a way we can get some type of petition going?

To be honest, I think it'd be best if we leave it alone for a little while and allow Sony to strengthen itself again. They said during the recent webcast that more products would come when the money flows again. Who knows.

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Is there a way we can get some type of petition going?

I suggested this some time before the end was this near... but if it is any conselation... Sony employees do read these forums! but a little 'HELLO, there are some HiMD lovers here' could always be useful, so I'll sign...

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I guess you speak for a whole lot of MDCF-members (and other MD-users) out there! but to answer your question...because

we use the stuff daily

we care about the stuff....really care!

we do not want Sony to make profit by lowering production costs, but by listening to consumers...which is proposterous in the business world

add whatever appropriate

Anybody any theories as to why Hi Md wasnt launched earlier...ie when flash memory and HD players were less developed, I presume Sony had the products ages ago......it really could have made quite an impact a while back

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Nice. B)

Uhm, duh, it keeps people coming to the site. ;) If I was cut and dry, it wouldn't be very effective news reporting; I want people to be thinking ahead -- speculating, helping this product evolve..

No apologies necessary.

To be honest, I think it'd be best if we leave it alone for a little while and allow Sony to strengthen itself again. They said during the recent webcast that more products would come when the money flows again. Who knows.

I am confused Kurisu. How can we speculate and help keep the product evolving if you think we should leave Sony alone for a while? :)

I guess we folks are going to end up like all the retired engineers at the HP museum website....talking about outdated technology we still love and use even though the rest of the world has moved on withouth realizing they missed out on great products. (I am referring to the older model HP calculators and Minidisc).

I guess I need to get a betamax to go with my minidisc and HP 15c/HP 27s. Maybe I can reocrd their serial numbers on my Atari 800!!!! :) /cry

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I think collective online petition AND individual emails would be more efficient

How about we email everything to Kurisu or anyone else who wants to handle this and they can put the emials on a HiMD disc and give it to Sony. - PLEASE realize this was a joke...but the irony cannot be ignored. No, it would be ironic if Sony didn't have any HiMD units to read the disc!!!

Edited by lamewing
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Nice. B)

To be honest, I think it'd be best if we leave it alone for a little while and allow Sony to strengthen itself again. They said during the recent webcast that more products would come when the money flows again. Who knows.

Forget it. I'd be VERY suprised if they brought a media format back after they discontinued it. This is all about numbers, and the numbers they're looking at don't provide them with a true perspective. They don't realize that they had to AGGRESSIVELY market Hi-MD worldwide for it to be as successful as they wanted. Another reason they won't bring back Hi-MD is this new restructuring between Sony's divisions will 'remember' that MD/Hi-MD 'never' was successful; not why.

Ipod Killer what?

Edited by sant430
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Forget it. I'd be VERY suprised if they brought a media format back after they discontinued it. This is all about numbers, and the numbers they're looking at don't provide them with a true perspective. They don't realize that they had to AGGRESSIVELY market Hi-MD worldwide for it to be as successful as they wanted. Another reason they won't bring back Hi-MD is this new restructuring between Sony's divisions will 'remember' that MD/Hi-MD 'never' was successful; not why.

Ipod Killer what?

And since they don't understand why it happened, the same thing will happen to their HD DAPs....quote me on that.

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To be honest, I think it'd be best if we leave it alone for a little while and allow Sony to strengthen itself again. They said during the recent webcast that more products would come when the money flows again. Who knows.

I couldn't agree more.

Before we perform acts of blind actionism, we should wait until we have an official statement from the management.

After that, we can still think of something.

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I couldn't agree more.

Before we perform acts of blind actionism, we should wait until we have an official statement from the management.

After that, we can still think of something.

Yes, they said more products would come when the money flows. I don't believe that for one second. Sony is assuming a great deal. They assume that the old, tired model of cutting jobs and closing plants is the solution to loss of profits. Any they brought in new managment just to come up with that idea? <shakes head in disgust>

Edited by lamewing
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I know my thoughts are clouded with emotion. I know we REALLY haven't heard anything 'official'. I know we need to wait.

BUT THIS HACKS ME OFF..........

I'm going to have to buy about 100 hi-md blanks to support my recording too. It's not even as if the prices of hi-md units/blanks will really drop either since we'll stay pay retail price for them...

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Before we perform acts of blind actionism, we should wait until we have an official statement from the management...After that, we can still think of something.

ok, perhaps we should wait a sec before sending this stuff to Sony HQ's... but I see no harm in describing them what we all use (Hi)MD for (mainly high quality recording I guess) and ask what the future alternatives will be if HiMD would disappear and whether they do not think that the (semi)pro market could be interesting as that one is clearly underprovided by the i-puddle

so why not start a thread here in which everyone can post their MD setup(s), uses, etc. so that when time comes, whe at least have our answer ready...

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This summer when some of my friends -who are musicians and old Md users- saw my brand new MZ-DH10P, they were amazed and very interested: they just not even know HI-Md exists! they were enthousiasted by this all-in-one "removable HD" unit and as old MD users happy to see it still alive. But I looked deception on their faces when they realized it has no mic/line input.

Sony,to make an Ipod killer, make a real all in one "Photo-video-line/mic input " himd unit.

AND ADVERTISE IT! SO MUCH PEOPLE WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IT EXISTS!

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I just started a pre-official announcement 'petition'... it's actually just a thread in which we can assemble info on ppl's setups and the uses of MD that can't yet be replaced by other exiting alternatives... please do not clutter the thread with discussion, just post your info there, do not post if you do not agree and discuss in this thread

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And for individual email to Sony?

with that sort of action I would definitely wait for an official announcement... besides if kurisu tips his connections on the existence of a thread here on MDCF it will be very useful as well

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I feel sorry for the DAT-tapers that had just made the switch to HiMD (there were a few here on MDCF IIRC) and they have to move on once again (at least when their current set-ups die)

I stopped using my very costly HHB PortaDat a few months back and replaced it (for my particular purposes) with an NH900.

However, I'd been using that PortaDat for about ten years and production of it ceased several years ago. The fact that it was no longer marketed had no impact at all on my use of it. The fact that nothing better for the format was ever subsequently released meant that the value of my large investment was maintained.

Now, there's no reason why I shouldn't carry on using the NH900 for several years to come - I've enough discs for my purposes - and when the time comes that I need to replace it, I don't doubt something pretty awesome by today's standards will be available.

Of course I would be sad to see minidisc go - I was I think the first person to appear in print in a pro audio magazine preaching the virtues for location recording of the very first MD portable within weeks of its availability (it's in the cupboard somewhere...) and I have several hi-fi MD units around, but I wasn't planning to buy a new unit every year - indeed, rather than being grateful to Sony for constantly bringing out newer and better models, it was always a bit annoying to see one's flashy new item out-dated in months.

The key thing for me is ongoing support - Sony does have that duty towards existing customers, though I don't think it has any duty to bring out new models. I would hope that media will continue to be available, and I would expect service backup for several years. With perhaps the former and certainly the latter, I'll continue to be a Hi-MD and plain MD user for years to come, and if the eventual replacement doesn't say "Sony" on the box, I think I'll cope.

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