March 2013 will mark the official end of the MiniDisc as a format. Sony plans to discontinue production of all MiniDisc hardware after 11 years and selling 27 million players - 22 million 'Walkman' branded portables and 5 million 'MiniDisc Stereo Systems'. Production of the portables ended in 2011, having long-since been replaced by the modern MP3 players and the iPod/iPad/iPhone juggernaut. The current announcement covers all other MiniDisc-related hardware. Sales of MiniDisc cartridges will continue 'for the next few years'.
The Minidisc promised to be a portable, durable, recordable alternative to the compact disc... but fell victim to the iPod and the explosion of MP3 audio and flash-based devices. Never a favorite among audiophiles due to limitations in its proprietary ATRAC compression - namely a 18,500 hz cutoff for high frequencies - the minidisc still has the ability to elicit a tinge of nostalgia. I owned a pair during that magic time, back when they were the best portable media option out there.
a MiniDisc Stereo System
From Sony's official statement... or should we call it 'understatement':
Edited by imagic - 2/4/13 at 9:50am
The Minidisc promised to be a portable, durable, recordable alternative to the compact disc... but fell victim to the iPod and the explosion of MP3 audio and flash-based devices. Never a favorite among audiophiles due to limitations in its proprietary ATRAC compression - namely a 18,500 hz cutoff for high frequencies - the minidisc still has the ability to elicit a tinge of nostalgia. I owned a pair during that magic time, back when they were the best portable media option out there.
a MiniDisc Stereo System
Quote:
A series of expensive marketing campaigns and a key role in the science-fiction movie Strange Days - in which user's memories were recorded onto the disks - did not help the format catch on in the West. Neither did slashing the price of recorders to a third of their original cost by 1998.
Sony made its last portable MiniDisc player two years ago
source: BBC News
Sony made its last portable MiniDisc player two years ago
source: BBC News
Quote:
So just what was so appealing about the MiniDisc? It was small. The discs came in cool colors. And you could record live directly with your playback device if it had a microphone input.
source: Stereophile
source: Stereophile
From Sony's official statement... or should we call it 'understatement':
Quote:
A MiniDisc cartridge contains an optical disc half the size of a CD. With consumers shifting to digital players that do not take external storage media, the firm has decided to stop offering MiniDisc players.
Edited by imagic - 2/4/13 at 9:50am
