"We're selling a lot"

[Dinko]

I went to the Sony Store today. I fell in love. With a Vaio, that is... yummy...

Aaaaaanyway...

After I finished bothering the poor dude about the colourful FJ Vaios, I asked if he had any blank HiMDs in stock. I was sure he would give me the usual "No, I'm sorry" reply they give me everytime I ask. Instead, he immediately said that they had them in stock. So then he said that after having some supply troubles, the discs were finally flowing smoothly again.

I asked "Do people still buy MD's?"

He enthusiastically said that yes, the Sony Store sells (Hi)MDs regularly, and people ask for MD stuff.

The positive tone he answered with and the look he gave me made me feel like a moron.

I felt like someone who goes to the Apple store and asks "Do you guys ever sell iPods?". It seemed at that moment that higher MD sales was such an obvious fact.

It makes me feel better about the format's next couple of years, if not its long term future.

A warning though: other electronics stores in the area seem to have discontinued minidisc products. I would find it natural then, for MD enthusiasts to concentrate on the Sony Store, as other retail locations are no longer viable alternatives for buying MD products.

On a related note, after the hordes of zombies walking around carrying iPods in their hands - thus completely negating the idea of a non cumbersome portable music player (if you're holding the damn thing and your whole arm is busy with that, you might as well bring a boombox!) - I see more people exhibiting minidisc players in their hands than a few years ago when only the remote controls were visible on certain people. I don't know the reasons. But it's what I see on the street and in public transit.

[1kyle]

Some Dixons (but fortunately by no means all) stores in the UK have stopped selling -- they seem to be concentrating on the RIO and Hard disk type of players as well as the inevitable Ipod stuff.

However Minidsic blanks seem to be readily available (both Hi-MD and "standard size").

On Tottenham Court Road (It's a street in London full on both sides with electronic shops selling every electronic gizmo you can imagine) Minidisc units are still selling very well indeed -- seems that after people have worn off the hassle of being too much tethered to a computer for their music collections with Ipods etc -- minidisc appears to be undergoing something of a revival.

BTW an excellent use for minidisc is playing AUDIO BOOKS in a car unit (I've got an old Kenwood MDLP car radio) .

Speech at LP4 is fine and on a long trip a decent book is far more relaxing than hours and hours of some of the more noisier forms of modern music. A typical Audio Book is around 6 hrs -- just right for 2 80 min minidiscs.

Hi-MD is obviously the better medium for this (could easily get the whole book on 1 Disc -- at Hi-LP could get 2 books --but until a HI-MD car unit comes out LP4 is fine for speech.

I think the new year should bring the speculation over the future of the format to an end --certainly it looks better now than a few months ago.

Cheers

-K

Edited November 4, 2005 by 1kyle

[Shozzer]

Audio books AND Dramatisations (BBC 7 is a good source for the latter). I use HI-MD to compile family listening for holiday journeys. I use HI-LP which to my ears is very good anyway, and can cram a lot of choice for the whole family and takes into account the wide age ranges. I use line out and play through an adaptor into the car stereo. I have plenty of material to fill a few Hi-MD discs!

Edited November 4, 2005 by Shozzer

[alex0365]

Unfortunately last days my friend came back from Hong Kong.

I asked him to buy HiMD for me, but he didn't found any of HiMD devices,

not a tiny track of MD in Hong Kong.

There were some hints from the sellers like:

"buy mp3 player - it's better" or "we don't sell old stuff" or "we don't have it, it's hard to sell"

or "go to that little second-hand store, first you have to take a sub

then go left two streets down then turn right and look for little store with red label,

then ask for Chang and find... [and so on]" anyway it was hopless.

My friend bought himself an iAudio X5, for me it's not an alternative

I expected more from Hong Kong...

If anyone (possibly from Hong Kong) can point me to the right place for HiMD

I'll be very greatfull

regards

fracek

Edited November 4, 2005 by fracek

[alfu]

Unfortunately last days my friend came back from Hong Kong.

I asked him to buy HiMD for me, but he didn't found any of HiMD devices,

not a tiny track of MD in Hong Kong.

There were some hints from the sellers like:

"buy mp3 player - it's better" or "we don't sell old stuff" or "we don't have it, it's hard to sell"

or "go to that little second-hand store, first you have to take a sub

then go left two streets down then turn right and look for little store with red label,

then ask for Chang and find... [and so on]" anyway it was hopless.

My friend bought himself an iAudio X5, for me it's not an alternative

I expected more from Hong Kong...

If anyone (possibly from Hong Kong) can point me to the right place for HiMD

I'll be very greatfull

regards

fracek

Yes, HiMD r very hard to find in HK. I got my hiMD MZ-NH1 in Feb this year from a shop called "International Audio & Visual Co." its on Lv 7 of Yau Shing Comm. Center, Sai Yeung Chio St. in Mong Kok. I'm not sure if they still have it in the shop, because when i buying from them i hv to wait 15 mins until they get the stock form the storeroom. If they don't sell it anymore u can always get it from the sonystyle store in hk.

Hope is info help u.....

Cheers

[AMPlitude]

very interesting...

i guess most of us are stocking up on hi-md blanks!

[ynos]

Unfortunately last days my friend came back from Hong Kong.

I asked him to buy HiMD for me, but he didn't found any of HiMD devices,

not a tiny track of MD in Hong Kong.

There were some hints from the sellers like:

"buy mp3 player - it's better" or "we don't sell old stuff" or "we don't have it, it's hard to sell"

or "go to that little second-hand store, first you have to take a sub

then go left two streets down then turn right and look for little store with red label,

then ask for Chang and find... [and so on]" anyway it was hopless.

My friend bought himself an iAudio X5, for me it's not an alternative

I expected more from Hong Kong...

If anyone (possibly from Hong Kong) can point me to the right place for HiMD

I'll be very greatfull

regards

fracek

I had the same experience in Hongkong, Hongkong is place of new gadgets!