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Minidisc Non-Popularity

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cdog46

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I find it absolutely distressing that it looks like the minidisc format is going the way of the buggywhip. I am; I'm 60 & having used practically format since the casette for Music on the go- I think the Minidisc-hands down- is the best format ever.

Without rehashing all the virtues of each format Mp3 etc etc-suffice it to that Minidisc gives me the listener the best bang for the buck in terms of fidelity, portability, and control of what I want to listen to.

I dropped my Sony mz-si at work. It hit the floor in such a way that it works no more so a 910 will be at my door when I get home from work. So much for shock proof.

In any case-There are probably a myriad of reasons why this format is not more popular. But the reason I see as it is really irritating and annoying-was (is) Sony's preoccupation with "ilegal" downloading and DRM. They are really quite stupid, ignorant, and arrogant.

In my situation 98% of what I listen to I paid for (CD purchase) and were it not for the fact I like this format-I would have told them to shove it with my wallet

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My friend, you echo the voices of thousands.

someone somewhere will "out-dupe" sony someday soon; and will mimick the MD/Hi-MD and we will be flying free. but since i am 63 (almost); it would be nice like to have it by christmas; i will even buy it for myself; (Don't need Santa from Atlanta;; or "Suga Babes from Exclaves. Don't need MP's and HD's just someting nice Please!

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I believe the main reason for MD non-popularity is that it is not a consumer format really, yet some assume it is.

Consumers consume content (no surprise?) while MD is meant to produce content.

It just happened to be mistakenly marketed as a consumer product in the past. Now this mistake has been fixed - we see no such marketing.

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all sony had to do is replace the "cassette" with the MD to the average consumer; maybe a cut down version; and it would have mushroomed into a "Super" medium.

but they had to be greedy, so suffer, Sony; suffer; see spot run; see sony run;

spot got the mutt;; sony got the butt!

Edited by rayzray
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I bet if MD was used as a standard external drive instead of iOmega's "ZIP"... it'd have a more prominant stance today. If Hi-MD was introduced sooner (circa the lifetime of the iOmega JAZZ drive), then that would have been a no-brainer.

Since MD was pushed toward remaining a portable music only format it wasn't allowed the chance to grow as it could have. I only have one today because I wanted to have something different than every other iHead on the street. Plus the recording aspect is VERY nice. I'm not one to record too many things, but it's nice to know it's possible =O

Even the PSP people (www.pspmods.com) say MD is crap... and UMD will have the same fate. The ignorance of the moderators (I think it's run by high schoolers? lol) didn't show the global lifespan of MD. Granted it's on a decline now, but it was pretty damn successful for a while (at least in Asia). From what I've been reading, it seems the UMD is basically a modified Hi-MD format. It was encased in that funky casing so discourage homebrew applications being placed on HiMD discs (via md units) and creating a whole new pirating category. Even now, exploits in certain games/older firmwares are allowing pirates to distribute psp games for loading onto memory sticks. If the UMD was kept in a Hi-MD style casing, at least Sony would be selling some Hi-MDs vs just a few lowly memory sticks. =O

I can't wait for the PS3... I hope it has a MD add-on option =O

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just to get one thing straight: UMD ≠ HiMD in a 'special jacket'

it is a completely different technology (based on DVD) as opposed to the magneto-optical medium (Hi)MD is

just because it is a disc it doesn't mean it is the same technology!

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MD was too expensive to replace cassette tapes - sure people want better quality but they don't necessarily want to pay the prices that MD units were asking. A little foresight would have meant lower prices so that MD could become more embedded in the consumer market and therefore more tolerant of competing formats. Sony did not think about competing formats since MP3 players have only come of age in the last 4 to 5 years.

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just to get one thing straight: UMD ≠ HiMD in a 'special jacket'

it is a completely different technology (based on DVD) as opposed to the magneto-optical medium (Hi)MD is

just because it is a disc it doesn't mean it is the same technology!

misinformation on my part. i just read the wikipedia files on umd =o

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just to get one thing straight: UMD ≠ HiMD in a 'special jacket'

it is a completely different technology (based on DVD) as opposed to the magneto-optical medium (Hi)MD is

just because it is a disc it doesn't mean it is the same technology!

Yes but do you remember MD-view (MD dATA2) for camcorder? it was DVD wavelength AND magneto-optical!

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I bet if MD was used as a standard external drive instead of iOmega's "ZIP"... it'd have a more prominant stance today. If Hi-MD was introduced sooner (circa the lifetime of the iOmega JAZZ drive), then that would have been a no-brainer.

The basic problem is that magneto-optical discs are inherently pretty slow at data transfer, and thus the original Sony MD data drives were soon outclassed by the magnetic-only ZIP drives and the like. The fastest read speed of the technology behind minidisc and MD data means it takes 15 mins to transfer the whole ~640 MB; not very impressive at all. Nevertheless, magneto-optical technology has an distinct advantage; the sheer longevity of the data storage/recordings.

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Yes but do you remember MD-view (MD dATA2) for camcorder? it was DVD wavelength AND magneto-optical!

garcou...you could be right (I dunno...never heard of that stuff personally) and as such it is some nice info... but I do not think that this does contribute to the discussion, it will only cause more confusion.

The post I reacted to refered to UMD as HiMD in a special jacket, which it isn't! We're talking about two existing formats not being the same. Even if there is a third unrelated technology that does combine DVD-wavelenght and magneto-optical storage, it does not mean that UMD in any way would/could be compatible with HiMD

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