Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)

bootcamp.uxdesign.cc

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 89 posts

Re: The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)

#11

Post by tinus_hn »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #4

They say history is written by the winners, but when it comes to technology, history is written by Americans. MiniDisc was a huge success for Sony, and was the winner of the tape-replacement format war in virtually every country - except the USA. It was so successful that Sony is still making blank MiniDiscs today. (Though they are not sold there, Americans can type MDW80T into eBay if they'd like some brand-new Mini…

Although it has found a niche it definitely wasn’t a ‘huge success’ in the Netherlands.

Re: The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)

#12

Post by jackvalentine »

gertrunde wrote: post #8
LeoPanthera wrote: post #4

They say history is written by the winners, but when it comes to technology, history is written by Americans. MiniDisc was a huge success for Sony, and was the winner of the tape-replacement format war in virtually every country - except the USA. It was so successful that Sony is still making blank MiniDiscs today. (Though they are not sold there, Americans can type MDW80T into eBay if they'd like some brand-new Mini…

It was heavily used in radio as well, almost ubiquitous for recording outside interviews etc for later broadcast.

And commercial exhibition, every large theatre/cinema/auditorium/performance space I worked in up until 2008 when I changed track had a rack mounted MD player hooked up to the automation to do announcements.

Re: The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)

#13

Post by zinekeller »

tinus_hn wrote: post #11
LeoPanthera wrote: post #4

They say history is written by the winners, but when it comes to technology, history is written by Americans. MiniDisc was a huge success for Sony, and was the winner of the tape-replacement format war in virtually every country - except the USA. It was so successful that Sony is still making blank MiniDiscs today. (Though they are not sold there, Americans can type MDW80T into eBay if they'd like some brand-new Mini…

Although it has found a niche it definitely wasn’t a ‘huge success’ in the Netherlands.

> it definitely wasn’t a ‘huge success’ in the Netherlands.

Fair enough, the land of Philips :P

(But in all seriousness, plain CDs were more popular in certain regions in Europe because "why have a different device for music?". It isn't as drastic as in America though, where it is a product that looks like and feels like never released to consumers.)

Re: The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)

#15

Post by ragingrobot »

I still have several portable MD players I bought new in the early 2000s. At the time, even on high spec PCs, the software was slow as hell to convert music to their proprietary format. MP3 wasn't speedy, but it wasn't nearly as slow as converting to ATRAC. I remember it taking on the order of hours to copy a CD to MD. The quality was better than MP3 so it was worth it in the end, but an annoyance nonetheless, and probably didn't help adoption in the US (we want it now dammit!).

> The MP3 format spelled the beginning of the end for the MiniDisc.

That should be "the iPod spelled the end". MP3 and MD coexisted for quite a few years before the iPod's arrival.

Re: The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)

#16

Post by blablabla123 »

arpa wrote: post #3

What really killed this format is the draconian copy protection that crippled the software for getting the tracks on device (for NET MD players). Other method(s) of getting sound on MD was essentially dubbing, like you would with MC. Other players removed the artificial barriers of getting your music on device, and it turned out that antipiracy measures are not a feature... which is a shame, because the feel and soun…

But you could play the music over SPDIF and record it while playing. I cannot remember having had problems with that. (Until my self-built SPDIF adapter broke...) Also other than stated in the article, MD used its own compression format so you could put 700 MB uncompressed audio onto a 130 MB disc. But in times of > 10 GB storage it makes no sense anymore to use replaceable cartridges. Just put it all on the player. That's what ultimately killed it.

It could have gotten a second life though with MD Data but the drives for that were just too expensive.

Re: The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)

#17

Post by bennyp101 »

I still have mine in the attic (lives in my cable/bits box that has moved with me for 20 years ..) I'll try and dig it out later, see what I was listening to then!

It served me well during my GCSE's!

But when the iPod Nano came out, and I could fit a load of songs on it, and physically fit it in the 'watch' pocket of my jeans - the minidisc went in the box and never came out.

Re: The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)

#18

Post by arpa »

blablabla123 wrote: post #16
arpa wrote: post #3

What really killed this format is the draconian copy protection that crippled the software for getting the tracks on device (for NET MD players). Other method(s) of getting sound on MD was essentially dubbing, like you would with MC. Other players removed the artificial barriers of getting your music on device, and it turned out that antipiracy measures are not a feature... which is a shame, because the feel and soun…

But you could play the music over SPDIF and record it while playing. I cannot remember having had problems with that. (Until my self-built SPDIF adapter broke...) Also other than stated in the article, MD used its own compression format so you could put 700 MB uncompressed audio onto a 130 MB disc. But in times of > 10 GB storage it makes no sense anymore to use replaceable cartridges. Just put it all on the player.…

That is true, but the SPDIF playback/record is essentially dubbing :(
Post reply on HN