Sony to scrap MiniDisc Walkmans

[Neil McCauley]

"Sony will stop making its MiniDisc Walkman from as early as September due to a decrease in demand."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/sony/8626013/Sony-to-scrap-MiniDisc-Walkmans.html

[Peter Stockwell]

"Sony will stop making its MiniDisc Walkman from as early as September due to a decrease in demand."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/sony/8626013/Sony-to-scrap-MiniDisc-Walkmans.html

took them this long!

[colinB]

I`m surprised. Musicians used to love them but probably use a laptop now.
I had a succession of them in the 90s including a seperate. I found the Sharp models sounded better than the sonys

[camtwister]

Although slowly decreasing in use, MD is still used as a source in theatre, via broadcast players. I always appreciated the ease of editing, especially ten to fifteen years ago when affordable PC audio editing software wasn't available. Shame to see a format with many good features fading away.

[Alex_UK]

I must admit, I thought it was dead long ago! I guess external USB drives and sticks are smaller, easier and more compatible?

[colinB]

I think the concept was great and kicked cassete tape into touch but when they tried to go computer compatible they produced complex programs that only nerds could understand. If they made it piss easy like itunes it might have been different.

[AlexM]

I agree.. the crapware DRM file transfer program that was supplied with my recording Sony portable was horrific.

I also have a pioneer MD recorder that was great, and a replay only Aiwa MD player that was a lovely piece of kit.

All three are available to anyone that wants them for a nominal sum - any interest?
Regards,
Alex

[vinylspinner]

Hi Alex,

What model is the pioneer, is it the 707?

regards

Nigel

[AlexM]

Nigel,

Think so, but I'll have to dig it out from the HuGo boneyard (i.e. the loft)

Cheers,
Alex

[lovejoy]

MD was a whole heap of missed opportunities due to Sony's paranoia about DRM.

If they'd taken it seriously as a replacement for the old floppy disc for data storage it probably would have been very successful as both an audio and a data format.

I had a good few MiniDisc players over the years, personal audio devices, full size hi-fi separates and in car. As a format I loved it, and it took a leap when Hi-MD came out. It was a shame that this seemed to be getting towards the end of the format's life cycle.

The killer for me was when they started allowing you to transfer MP3s via USB. SonicStage was the worst piece of software I have ever used. It was painfully slow, the database management was a nightmare and I managed to hose my entire music collection on more than one occasion. It was a piece of sh*t and it was the single reason I ended up ditching the format entirely in the end. Which was a real shame, as I've not had an MP3 player that sounds anywhere near as good as any of my portable MD players sounded.