Saving MiniDisc

[losslesshead]

Hi,

I recently registered- but am one of the (probably) few people who gave up an iPod for an MD player. After going through many google pages, and browsing the forums here it comes to be obvious that MD is dying- and that Sony does not seem to keen to save it (a la Betamax). I think we do.

Right now I run something called Street Light Project which is getting over 16,000 unique visits per month, my idea is to create a "flashy", "interactive" site to promote MiniDisc, and then direct traffic from Street Light Project there.

UPDATE: DONT NEED ANYMORE HELP. Plus what is being said is kinda' depressing and making me wonder whether despite efforts we make will MD survive?

-Mav

Edited February 27, 2006 by Mav Block

[atrain]

welcome mav

[losslesshead]

Also, in addition to what I said above: We have Microsoft's URGE to worry about too...

[atrain]

what is it that the streetlight project does mav?

[losslesshead]

This post is not being used for self promotion: Street Light Project is a website a founded in December that used to consist of a blgo network and an online magazine. But right now we are merging the two into one news like site. We get a huge ammount of visiotrs (and for the most part, MSN Search loves us). Most of our writers (okay, not most, but a fair ammount) are tech writer and I am thinking of throwing something about MiniDisc into the fray. Right now I am half-way done a flash site to promote MiniDisc.

[rainbow69]

Good luck. When I was "researching", I talked to some Sony reps. At least here, they won't be releasing new "blow your mind" MD players. Truth be known, Sony is phasing out MD's completely and going away from that format entirely. They'll have cute little mp3 players coming out the end of this quarter.

Still, I bought a RH10 today from B&H...and 2 HiMD discs...hope it'll be enuf!

[FTS2090]

Do you know what truly pisses me off about sony... im my opinion, last March they wasted their chance to save the minidisc format.... how?... Sony PSP!!

All they had to do was make the UMD drive also compatibe with Hi-MD ( i know i know there are diferences between the two, just make the UMDs a little bigger and have the drive have a dual mode like UMD and HiMD/NetMD, kind of how you can play DVDs and record CDs in a PC combo drive) and Normal Minidiscs and add the recording capabilities without increasing the price and the format would had been saved.... or at least gained more momentum.

Sony... YOU PISS ME OFF!!!!!

[peare]

Do you know what truly pisses me off about sony... im my opinion, last March they wasted their chance to save the minidisc format.... how?... Sony PSP!!

All they had to do was make the UMD drive also compatibe with Hi-MD ( i know i know there are diferences between the two, just make the UMDs a little bigger and have the drive have a dual mode like UMD and HiMD/NetMD, kind of how you can play DVDs and record CDs in a PC combo drive) and Normal Minidiscs and add the recording capabilities without increasing the price and the format would had been saved.... or at least gained more momentum.

Sony... YOU PISS ME OFF!!!!!

At least they could have released a full deck and then go to HELL!!!

I could have listened to it and drink to SONY's death.

What a sucker!

How many times Sony has deceived us.

They really deserve more than all the hate they get.

[atrain]

why all the hatred? no one is sure when or if the plug will be pulled, sonicstage is still being updated & the himd bit got a significant upgrade with the realease of 3.4 - the newer bitrate options.

sure no deck, but the live recording seems to be resurgent.

[rainbow69]

at least the plug has been pulled in australia, and also in canada.

i expect USA and europe to follow then perhaps a year or two they'll pull the plug in japan also as all energy will be narrowed in on MP3 players.

i hope i get my RH10 in the mail before friday!!

[Pug]

In my opinion we are lucky minidisc got as far as Net-MD let alone HI-MD. We are pretty fortunate that Sony has let us experience the last breath of minidisc technology and didn't confine HI-MD to a concept.

I'm happy they made that last push to HI-MD and as ong as I can source blanks and units I'm happy.

Cheers

Pug

[losslesshead]

In my opinion we are lucky minidisc got as far as Net-MD let alone HI-MD. We are pretty fortunate that Sony has let us experience the last breath of minidisc technology and didn't confine HI-MD to a concept.

I'm happy they made that last push to HI-MD and as ong as I can source blanks and units I'm happy.

Cheers

Pug

I agree, we are lucky MD has gotten so far, and has continued so long. Sony Japan just released new mp3 players, and Sony America will probably adopt them soon- but that does not mean MD will have to die.

Think about it, there has been no mp3 player to date that can *truly* satisfy audiophiles. You can not have a real home deck with an mp3 player with some kickass speakers (as mp3 players do not have things like 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound), but there are MD home and car decks, and they work damn well!

The site I am making is almost half way done, and I am thinking of directing the promotion to Audiophiles, Musicians, and people that *really* care about their music.

The site I am making is going to be called "Meet MiniDisc"

It is possible to save MD, and here's how:

On the site I am going to make some buttons to post on your own sites (a la SpreadFirefox)

Recommend them to friends, and fellow audiolovers

When it comes out, get the Meet MiniDisc a good pagerank on Google

Come up with other ways to market it

That's all for now,

-Mav

[peare]

why all the hatred? no one is sure when or if the plug will be pulled, sonicstage is still being updated & the himd bit got a significant upgrade with the realease of 3.4 - the newer bitrate options.

sure no deck, but the live recording seems to be resurgent.

Hatred? Yes! Not to MD but to Sony. I have been using MD since 1995 (at least 15 different devices). Before that, that was DAT, before Betamax, before.... that goes on ... Sony is the nastiest company in the world. See, my last 2 items were NW-HD1 and HD5. I stuck with first gen HiMD with NH1. Now, where is the support for all these devices? HD5 has seen firmware 1.2, and DONE!!! because Sony dont like its customers. Where is the support for all new bitrates? WHERE IS THE NEW FIRMWARE??? There wont be one, because Sony knows that we are all idiots! we are going to buy new items from them and leave behind our brand new recorders/players, while Archos or Cowon or Creative were releasing new firmwares for their older items. I have spent more than 5 grand on MD technology, equipment and blanks (I still have more than 200MD's in their original packages). I have bought their flagship MDS-JA50ES for $1500 in 1996. I have all the right to curse to Sony. There were no need to abandon MD. where do you find 1GB storage for less than $7... and it could fall if HiMD could survive.

Either Sony will learn to co-exist with the brave new world or it will die.

Thats for sure. If they dont change their way of thinking, if the world cant change them the end is inevitable.

[ATELETRONICS]

if we all beg and beg some more. give us a real hi-md deck before iyts too late thay will do it. so everyone keep the pressure on them every day!!!

[losslesshead]

if we all beg and beg some more. give us a real hi-md deck before iyts too late thay will do it. so everyone keep the pressure on them every day!!!

I don't think it is so much about pressuring them. I think what we need to do is show Sony that they can dominate a market if they put their mind (and their money) towards it. I think community marketing is just the thing to show them.

That is why we need to do this. As I said earlier, no audio device currently on the market (except MD) can really satisfy an audiphile, or a music lover. The thing is: most people do not know about MD. I really don't wnat the format to die, and if it does, that would be really, really sad. We need to pull together as a community and create a MiniDisc *Revolution*.

-Mav

[MDGB2]

The problem is that Sony has totally lost direction.

The format was originally designed for RECORDING, not as a purely portable downloader/iPod type thing...

IMHO portables are no match for 'proper' recording equipment, and in it's original field there is still nothing to touch MD/Hi-MD for quality or flexibility.

Keep the Mp3 for Jo-six pack with the cotton wool ear drums and make Hi-MD decks for the people that actually record and appreciate music Sony!

And if you do pull the plug on the format, you just lost a lifelong customer. Nintendo DS over PSP, XBox360 over PS3, Panasonic make better TVs and DVD recorders, no more Sony products...ever!

Edited February 28, 2006 by MDGB2

[ksandbergfl]

What is Sony's relationship to other manufacturer's like Sharp or Kenwood?

Is there a chance that Sony might license/sell HiMD technology to someone else? Would anyone else want it? Surely some company out there is eager to build and sell a few thousand HiMD car decks for the hard-core HiMD'ers... if Sony would just let them!

[atrain]

onkyo have made a few himd stereo seperates, no other out sourcing really.

[burns3016]

In my opinion we are lucky minidisc got as far as Net-MD let alone HI-MD. We are pretty fortunate that Sony has let us experience the last breath of minidisc technology and didn't confine HI-MD to a concept.

I'm happy they made that last push to HI-MD and as ong as I can source blanks and units I'm happy.

Cheers

Pug

Although I am very angry that the "world" as we know it has not embraced MD, I am grateful that SONY did actually go for the Hi-MD concept. However, was it promoted & advertised correctly ? Unlikely.

I plan to go into hibernation with my 4 MD-units - MZ-NH900, MZ-NHF800, MZ-NH600 & MZ-R500 -along with my 80 or so blank 80 minutes blanks & my 20 or so 1GB Hi-MD blanks. Hopefully this will sustain me through a long, long mp3-player based winter.

[garcou]

Think about it, there has been no mp3 player to date that can *truly* satisfy audiophiles. You can not have a real home deck with an mp3 player with some kickass speakers (as mp3 players do not have things like 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound), but there are MD home and car decks, and they work damn well!

The site I am making is almost half way done, and I am thinking of directing the promotion to Audiophiles, Musicians, and people that *really* care about their music.

The site I am making is going to be called "Meet MiniDisc"

It is possible to save MD, and here's how:

On the site I am going to make some buttons to post on your own sites (a la SpreadFirefox)

Recommend them to friends, and fellow audiolovers

When it comes out, get the Meet MiniDisc a good pagerank on Google

Come up with other ways to market it

That's all for now,

-Mav

I'm very enthousiast with your site Mave Block!

Although I think only a HiMD deck would be trully audiophile ( An mds-ja20ES based himd deck would sound fantastic!), it's a good way to promote MD.

HImd car unit would also something mp3 players couln't compet: with good amplifier and speakers (and motor with good isolation), A car is a good place for enjoying Music. If only Sony could understand that...

We have to make advertising work that Sony never made fo HimD: promote it like universal media , data storage , music player including Mp3, Audiophile music recorder for musiclovers and musician AND removable media at cheap price: less than 3 $ on the web

himd at 3.51 AUD

Edited February 28, 2006 by garcou

[losslesshead]

Thats a good idea! I think I will incorporate the concept of universal media into the site.

-Mav

[rainbow69]

Another reason why MD didn't take off is the high cost of discs as garcou pointed out. Relative to CD's and even DVD's, the capacity within an MD doesn't justify the high price tag.

MD has essentially died in North America, however as I understand it, there's still a breath left in Europe and Japan. The strategy that Apple has used to market their player and Sony with theirs is drastically different.

Whereas the my brand new RH10 will probably be considered by the commoner as "archaic technology", I believe most of them will look at my 3rd gen iPod and think it's still darn cool.

Just as Sony dropped the Clie line of PDA's, it's really quite inconsequential for them to drop any product line not making money for them.

The Memory Stick is regarded by all to be the worst type of memory out there-- larger, fragile, more expensive, etc. Sony is a devil-- as many have already pointed out.

[garcou]

Another reason why MD didn't take off is the high cost of discs as garcou pointed out. , more expensive, etc. Sony is a devil-- as many have already pointed out.

My post just said the contrary :less than 3 USD is cheap for 1GB compact and removable, rewritable up to 1 000 000 cycles, and long time storage ability.

[batfastad]

I would be absolutely delighted to see a Hi-MD deck. I'd love to be able to play my Hi-MD discs out through my nice amp and speakers.

Two decks - one priced around £250, then another priced around £500.

Increased Hi-MD disc capacity (2 / 4GB).

Then the format can be left to die.

There's a market for minidiscs amongst audiophiles, artists, and semi-pro users.

Not everyone wants to listen to hundreds of gigabytes of copy-protected, low quality, audio files. Or be a generic london-commuter listening to the new Nora Jones album downloaded from iTunes.

I use my Hi-MD discs for general mp3 playing, data storage, and recording.

I'd love to see some Hi-MD decks.

[losslesshead]

Ok guys. I have a fair ammount of the site done, but I really need a catchphrase. It also looks like everyone (and us) is up against MS origami to...

[rainbow69]

My post just said the contrary :less than 3 USD is cheap for 1GB compact and removable, rewritable up to 1 000 000 cycles, and long time storage ability.

yap i read ur post! I am referring the relative cost of them to CDR's and DVDR's.

I honestly have not seen any 1GB discs for less than 3USD. I purchased a couple recently at B&H Photo for $7 each.

If you consider them relative to Compact Flash/Memory Stick/Secure Digital then yes, they are cheaper per megabyte...there's no doubt about that .

[MDGB2]

yap i read ur post! I am referring the relative cost of them to CDR's and DVDR's.

I honestly have not seen any 1GB discs for less than 3USD. I purchased a couple recently at B&H Photo for $7 each.

If you consider them relative to Compact Flash/Memory Stick/Secure Digital then yes, they are cheaper per megabyte...there's no doubt about that .

Important to note is that md is re-writable.

It should be compared to CD-RW or DVD-RW and MD is still cheaper than both.

[FTS2090]

You know what the problem is? User Base!

A Hi-MD deck would not save the format... why? because the people who would go out and buy it are basically... us!!! MD users since... a long time ago.

In order to save our beloved format we need to get new users to buy MDs, so that Sony can make money on this. My reasoning behind saying that the PSP was their last chance is because it would have been the perfect "troyan Horse".

Lots of gamer (and non MD users) go out and buy PSP and then as a bonus it came with a 1 GB Hi-MD Disc... they load their music and then next time they go to best buy they see a MZ-RH710 for ...$150?, at that point, they get one because they have been exposed to MDs.

In My opinion, the retarded PS3 will amount to huge loses and they WILL have to cut from other divisions to make up for it, the latest i read was that it cost $800 to make a PS3 and to sell them they need to sell for $399... a HUGE loss (1 million units sold = 400 Million loss)... I just hope the end is not near

[garcou]

yap i read ur post! I am referring the relative cost of them to CDR's and DVDR's.

I honestly have not seen any 1GB discs for less than 3USD. I purchased a couple recently at B&H Photo for $7 each.

If you consider them relative to Compact Flash/Memory Stick/Secure Digital then yes, they are cheaper per megabyte...there's no doubt about that .

did you also have a look at the link I put in my post?

Hi-MD at 3.51 AUD

You know what the problem is? User Base!

A Hi-MD deck would not save the format... why? because the people who would go out and buy it are basically... us!!! MD users since... a long time ago.

In order to save our beloved format we need to get new users to buy MDs, so that Sony can make money on this. My reasoning behind saying that the PSP was their last chance is because it would have been the perfect "troyan Horse".

Lots of gamer (and non MD users) go out and buy PSP and then as a bonus it came with a 1 GB Hi-MD Disc... they load their music and then next time they go to best buy they see a MZ-RH710 for ...$150?, at that point, they get one because they have been exposed to MDs.

In My opinion, the retarded PS3 will amount to huge loses and they WILL have to cut from other divisions to make up for it, the latest i read was that it cost $800 to make a PS3 and to sell them they need to sell for $399... a HUGE loss (1 million units sold = 400 Million loss)... I just hope the end is not near

Since ss 3.4 has come ,I have conviced 3 of my friend that never had MD before to adopt the format!

I think hi -md car unit for example could convice more people, for it is much more easy to use in a car than an MP3 pluggin

And my opnion is that with recent improvements in sonicstage, once someone has adopt the format, will not give up. Of course if no Himd deck or car unit come...

[losslesshead]

did you also have a look at the link I put in my post?

Hi-MD at 3.51 AUD

Since ss 3.4 has come ,I have conviced 3 of my friend that never had MD before to adopt the format!

I think hi -md car unit for example could convice more people, for it is much more easy to use in a car than an MP3 pluggin

And my opnion is that with recent improvements in sonicstage, once someone has adopt the format, will not give up. Of course if no Himd deck or car unit come...

Congrats on converting some people! We need to save this format. MiniDisc is a very good format and does nto deserve to die like BetaMax, or more recently, PPD. We need to pull together as a community and save MiniDisc and make it a real contender for "Best Audio Device".

-Mav

[garcou]

well said, mav!

[xravexboix]

I hope Hi-MD is integrated in the PS3 as the memory card device!!! How cool would that be?! Granted, the current build price (rumor or fact?) is at $900 so the substantial loss they are taking probably wouldn't justify adding hundred or so dollars more equipment =P

Maybe even just including a normal MD disc w/ each game for specific memory and slight expansion possibilities as opposed to a dedicated one for all games... that may also be cool =P Sadly I jumped on the MD market near its (supposed) death, but it's definitely a great item!

[batfastad]

So long as I have a stack of blank discs, access to HiMD discs on ebay, and my MZ RH10 works, then I guess short-term it doesn't matter too much.

And when this MZ RH10 stops working, I'm gonna try my best to find a replacement.

Such a great device. Best gadget / music purchase I've ever made.

I'd just feel sad that other people didn't get to appreciate the versatility of the HiMD format. I mean there was hardly a big fanfare when HiMD was announced!!

Ah well - you never know. Sony might have a range of decks ready, a disc capacity increase, digital video cameras recording to HiMD, car head units and everything that they're just waiting to tell us about in April.

Or maybe not

[losslesshead]

Does anyone have any tagline suggestions? And btw, I could use more help pn the site now!

[batfastad]

Is there a link for this site that we can look at yet?

[losslesshead]

No, not yet. To tell you the truth, even in trying to make this I am kinda' losing hope beacuse it seems fromt the huge ammoutn fo replies that Sony blew their one chance and we are all screwed

[atrain]

don't be dispirited, there may be a morale boost to come soon

[losslesshead]

I have to say it is kinda' hard not to be dispirited. It really seems like Sony is abandoning the format.

[batfastad]

Hey there's still hope!!

You never know what Sony might have up their sleeves. They must make an announcement in the next couple of months.

They'll have to make an announcement of either some new units, or that there's nothing new this year / ever.

But I've been getting pretty excited about their new MegaMD format for some time

[losslesshead]

If the format is to survive we need some way to spark intrest, some really cool thing! Any ideas?

And I mean more than just a promotional site.