tonyclune Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 So I wanted to leave some information about Sony's poor design choices. I will keep the rant to a minimum to ensure efficient information communication.-I bought a more affordable minidisc MZ-RH910 recorder for live voice recording and neglected to research whether the unit would be compatible with my MAC it is not.-So Sony packaged the thing in a type of box called a blister pack that couldn't be resealed and thus voided the retailer's warranty. DESIGN FLAW #1-I stuck with Sony's phone tree and after several frustrating weeks I arrange what amounted to an exchange with the Customer Serive Manager at their Fort Meyers headquarters. (They actually bought pack the unit so I could buy the more expensive mz-100... They could not arrange an exchange b/c the mz-100 is marketed by a different wing of the sony corporation DESIGN FLAW #2)-I could have avoided by reading up on the product I bought and and happy Sony finally gave me what I wanted, but here is the crux:When I finally received my new mz-100 it became apparent that Sony had pulled a fast one. The differences between the more expensive mac compatible unit and the cheaper one basically boiled down to the contents of the "bundle"the mac compatible unit cost several hundred dollars more, not because it is mac compatible but because it included $100 headphones and an nice stereo microphone. I had just bought nice headphones and a nice microphone. The CD with the audio uploading software had the original PC based program and the extra MAC based programI have not tried to use the MAC program to upload audio file from a "non MAC compatible" Minidisc but my hunch is that it would work fine. The MD recorders all use the same compression format "altrac3" I think it is called. So in my mind Sony could very easily make the lower cost MD player mac compatible, but they took a gamble that the mac user would be willing to pay more $ for the extra equipment they may or may not need.The product works fine. I just wanted to share this slimy marketing trick. The one drawback is that the recorder picks up cell phone signals, so if you phone rings during recorder you will hear that annoying clipping sound during playback. Does anyone know how to stop that... besides turning off every cell phone in the room.bestapcToday almost everything between mac and pc is compatible... no excuse on their part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDX-400 Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I hate to say this but had you done even a little bit of research (checking this site/forum for example) before you purchasd the M100 you would have known all of that before you just went and bought it and figured that out on your own.Today almost everything between mac and pc is compatible... no excuse on their part.I hardly think that is the case. Though your title says "Sony Suck b/c is it not Mac Compatible", I would say "Mac sucks because it is not anything compatible", LOL. Though you might not like Sony and blame them for your own unresearched purchase, I can guarantee you I dislike Apple computer even more than that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Well I guess you'll just have to keep your eyes peeled for the new Mac software for Hi-MD when it comes out in the summer which should be available as a download. This will offer more options for Mac users and may or may not be backwards compatible with other Hi-MD units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raintheory Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I have not tried to use the MAC program to upload audio file from a "non MAC compatible" Minidisc but my hunch is that it would work fine. The MD recorders all use the same compression format "altrac3" I think it is called. So in my mind Sony could very easily make the lower cost MD player mac compatible, but they took a gamble that the mac user would be willing to pay more $ for the extra equipment they may or may not need.The Mac WAV importer software doesn't work on any other HiMD recorders. This has been discussed in detail here in the forums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamewing Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Okay, this may not seem important, but the term is Mac, not MAC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eriktous Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 I have not tried to use the MAC program to upload audio file from a "non MAC compatible" Minidisc but my hunch is that it would work fine.As has been said this is not true. Making assumptions about MD has already given you more trouble than you liked, so I would advise you to research the subject before you make claims like this. This forum happens to be an excellent place to find information on any MD-related subject.The MD recorders all use the same compression format "altrac3" I think it is called. So in my mind Sony could very easily make the lower cost MD player mac compatible, but they took a gamble that the mac user would be willing to pay more $ for the extra equipment they may or may not need.Developing Mac-compatible software costs money. Mac-users have to pay for this.As there happen to be much more Windows users than Mac users, the cost per unit for software is significantly lower than it is for the Mac-compatible units.The product works fine. I just wanted to share this slimy marketing trick.No marketing trick, just simple economics of scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atrain Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 -I stuck with Sony's phone tree and after several frustrating weeks I arrange what amounted to an exchange with the Customer Serive Manager at their Fort Meyers headquarters. (They actually bought pack the unit so I could buy the more expensive mz-100... They could not arrange an exchange b/c the mz-100 is marketed by a different wing of the sony corporation DESIGN FLAW #2)....Today almost everything between mac and pc is compatible... no excuse on their part.seems to me they did what you wanted after you neglected to do research. so they fixed your error, at some aditional cost to you, yes, but the model you wanted costs more than the originial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjsilva Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Developing Mac-compatible software costs money. Mac-users have to pay for this.As there happen to be much more Windows users than Mac users, the cost per unit for software is significantly lower than it is for the Mac-compatible units.Just to chime in here, basic software to upload/download recordings from an MD to a Mac could easily be written by a single competent Mac developer experienced in USB development in less than a month. I do low-level (i.e. hardware) and application development and find that most USB development on the Mac is not especially complicated (sometimes quite simple). A decent UI for a simple app can be created using IB and Cocoa in less than a day.Sony could have contracted with a Mac developer (such as myself) and the only reason it would cost them a lot of money is if the developer charged based on the scope of the product verses using an "hourly" rate. Chances are Sony used in-house developers who were not competent with Mac development or contracted with a firm who milked them based on their ignorance of Mac development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cthulu Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 I agree with with everyone above you really should have done at least a little research.I am not a big fan of Sony Customer Services, but at least they bought the unit back instead of leaving you high and dry with an incompatible unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananatree Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 The reason that things are cross compat between PC and Mac, is that people spend lots of time cross coding the programs, from PPC to Intel. That's a little different now, but it's the same reason that Xbox360 and Xbox aren't compatible out of the box.Sony didn't see the 5% user base to be a big enough issue to spend a lot of extra money. They didn't, and regret it now. They fixed it, kind of, but is very restrictive due to Sony being in the RIAA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted April 23, 2006 Report Share Posted April 23, 2006 Sorry if I sound like a Sony fanboy, but maybe it's not Sony's fault that they can' get their stuff on a Mac? What if Apple is just being not friendly enough? I mean, is it really profitable for Apple that the most direct competitor to their I-pod is fully compatible with their systems, taking into consideration the non-DRM, no questions asked upload of recordings? On the other hand, being able to upload with MD to a Mac, convert to wav or any other format, and use it on an Ipod would be a match made in heaven. And when that happens, man will learn to love his neighbor, and the lion and the lamb will lie down together, and toast will no longer land on the buttered side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekdroid Posted April 30, 2006 Report Share Posted April 30, 2006 Sorry if I sound like a Sony fanboy, but maybe it's not Sony's fault that they can' get their stuff on a Mac? What if Apple is just being not friendly enough? I mean, is it really profitable for Apple that the most direct competitor to their I-pod is fully compatible with their systems, taking into consideration the non-DRM, no questions asked upload of recordings?Sony's limitations on the Mac are totally self-inflicted.How would Apple be concenred about uploading recordings to Macs? They sell them as media production tools, for one. It's a common, bare-bones, basic capability. It can already be done on dozens of formats unrelated to MD. I don't see why Apple should it be concerned about a little niche recorder being more useful on its platform (which ipods don't even compete with, really - except on playback). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrius Posted May 2, 2006 Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 Ok. Agreed on the self-imposed restrictions on the Mac for Sony. However, if I was Steve Jobs, I'd be concerned that a little gadget that costs the same as an Ipod, and can record, upload and download and take my product to school, could work flawlessly on my machine. Not that it will happen soon. The I-drones are bound to keep on buying replacements when the batteries go kaput. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.