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Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
8,810
11,266
So McDonalds dumped a potential cross marketing deal with Apple for this? Musta been cheaper for McD's because it certainly won't have broader appeal...
 

Gyroscope

macrumors regular
Apr 29, 2002
185
0
Call me crazy but I love MiniDisc. Over the past couple of years I had nothing but praise for it. Maybe its just me,but must have that spinning (disc,LP) feeling when listening to music. :) Ipod is nice and everything but I just don't like being bound to computer to transfer my music onto player. With MiniDisc you can swap discs with yor mates(instead of "lets go to my place and i ll transfer some songs onto your iPod" :)),can record live shows,can record from analog sources etc. Look Sony may never make anything out of MiniDisc (judging by the past) but these devices are not crap by any means.

As for online music stores,well i don't really care. I am still buying my records with added tangible feeling to it.

Cheers
 

Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
8,810
11,266
bertagert said:
Actually, mini disc are hugh in japan and other areas just like the ipod is here in the usa and europe.

Yeah, I just rented a car in Japan and couldn't listen to my iPod while driving because all the cars came with MD players rather than cassette players...

I think people are really underestimating the potential for a Japanese-owned outlet into the Japanese market. Sony's service can survive on that alone... They won't lose money because they won't pay royalties on their own stuff.
 

Dahl

macrumors 6502a
Nov 21, 2002
639
24
L.A.
The real force Sony has is their deep pockets, they have enough $ to play along for a while, even if it's a crap service.
 

PretendPCuser

macrumors regular
Nov 8, 2001
163
0
Northern, NJ
Interested to know if

bertagert said:
Actually, mini disc are hugh in japan and other areas just like the ipod is here in the usa and europe.

I'm being honestly curious, are they launching Connect in Japan as well? If they are doing it here and not there, that seems counterintuitive. (especially if they own the music rights, they should be able to offer anywhere in the world, which might actually give them a "first to Europe/Asia" which might give them a fighting chance.)

As far as the US market goes? I'm a bit skeptical for the reasons mentioned previously by other posters. MiniDisc Players were cool, when the other MP3 players on the market were 64Mb.

But hey, as the immutable laws of branding go, it's all good for Apple.
 

ZildjianKX

macrumors 68000
May 18, 2003
1,610
0
The cool thing to me is that Sony isn't the only manufacturer of minidisc players, unlike Apple is with the iPod *cough*
 

Dippo

macrumors 65816
Sep 27, 2003
1,044
1
Charlotte, NC
Gyroscope said:
Call me crazy but I love MiniDisc. Over the past couple of years I had nothing but praise for it. Maybe its just me,but must have that spinning (disc,LP) feeling when listening to music. :) Ipod is nice and everything but I just don't like being bound to computer to transfer my music onto player. With MiniDisc you can swap discs with yor mates(instead of "lets go to my place and i ll transfer some songs onto your iPod" :)),can record live shows,can record from analog sources etc. Look Sony may never make anything out of MiniDisc (judging by the past) but these devices are not crap by any means.

As for online music stores,well i don't really care. I am still buying my records with added tangible feeling to it.

I also have a Minidisc player, and while the hardware is actually quite good, the software is terrible. All music (non-DRM) has to be "check out" when added to a minidisc and the OpenMG interface is the worst. I eventually had to use Realplayer to transfer the songs, and that was barely tolerable.

The minidisc player I have is able to play almost 50 hours on one AA battery and the discs only cost like $2 a piece. So it does have it's good points, but the bad points are far too great.

If someone could figure out how to use iTunes to transfer to Minidisc, then maybe I would still use it, but as it stands now, my minidisc player is on the shelf unused.
 

gwuMACaddict

macrumors 68040
Apr 21, 2003
3,124
0
washington dc
dongmin said:
And minidisc is skip-free


nope
i had one of the original minidiscs for jogging. it was worthless. skipped all the time. and i hated that you could really only record once on a disc... i think this technology is useless... why doesnt anyone do anything with flash memory yet?
 

Gyroscope

macrumors regular
Apr 29, 2002
185
0
Dippo said:
I also have a Minidisc player, and while the hardware is actually quite good, the software is terrible. All music (non-DRM) has to be "check out" when added to a minidisc and the OpenMG interface is the worst. I eventually had to use Realplayer to transfer the songs, and that was barely tolerable.

The minidisc player I have is able to play almost 50 hours on one AA battery and the discs only cost like $2 a piece. So it does have it's good points, but the bad points are far too great.

If someone could figure out how to use iTunes to transfer to Minidisc, then maybe I would still use it, but as it stands now, my minidisc player is on the shelf unused.

Good news,there is new version of OpenMG,SonicStage V2.0. It allows transfers from MiniDisc to PC and it is bit less restrictive.Now you can transfer files in Mp3 and other few formats. User interface has also been improved. Get it from here:
http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=3924&sid=252272fa4811770d9bd8352ff7263ba7
 

cxny

macrumors 6502
Jan 13, 2004
335
0
New York
Apple and MikeyD's - Crikey!

The Pepsi promotion was already pushing it, but MacDonalds? This co-branding strategy merely dilutes both companies IMHO.
 

Gyroscope

macrumors regular
Apr 29, 2002
185
0
gwuMACaddict said:
nope
i had one of the original minidiscs for jogging. it was worthless. skipped all the time. and i hated that you could really only record once on a disc... i think this technology is useless... why doesnt anyone do anything with flash memory yet?

Mate I dont know what are you talking about??? You can re-record (according to Sony) 1 mil times without any loss of sound quality. All new MiniDiscs have G-Protection system. They have upto 5 minutes of read buffer and no matter what you do,they never skip.
 

J-Squire

macrumors regular
Nov 10, 2003
208
0
Australia
I like it

"We're not trying to convert customers from one paying service to another," says Jay Samit, Connect's general manager. He wants to lure people who download from free services such as Kazaa and Morpheus to Sony's pay service. "This is about broadening the entire audience."

I have changed my tune (pardon the pun) on this music service. It sounds like they're not trying to directly compete with iTMS, but instead recognise a need that their customers have (those who have already bought sony music devices) and are trying to service that need. Sounds good to me.
 

Dippo

macrumors 65816
Sep 27, 2003
1,044
1
Charlotte, NC
gwuMACaddict said:
nope
i had one of the original minidiscs for jogging. it was worthless. skipped all the time. and i hated that you could really only record once on a disc... i think this technology is useless... why doesnt anyone do anything with flash memory yet?


I also have to disagree. The minidisc player I have doesn't have a skipping problem while jogging, or while doing anything else.

Maybe you have an older model, but the MZ-N510 that I bought a year ago didn't have skipping problems.
 

JGowan

macrumors 68000
Jan 29, 2003
1,766
23
Mineola TX
coolfactor said:
How is this any different than Apple's strategy?
1) iTunes Music Store is both for MAC and PC.

2) You can listen to your purchased music on some KICK-ASS software that does a ton of stuff (and just keeps getting better and better by the way) ... also for MAC and PC. iTunes is without a doubt the best jukebox software there is ... PERIOD.

3) The site is intergrated into the Software and not some browser (How cool is that!?!)

4) The site also KICKS ASS. (Being on a Mac, I didn't see the INSIDE of the sony store, but the storefront Blows.)

5) Burn unlimited copies to CD (changing order even slightly after 7 burns) vs. 5 burns to Audio CD/5 burns to MP3 CD [according to JereIC])

6) Songs sound amazing in AAC format.

7) Can play on the AWARD-WINNING IPOD!

8) Apple had the balls to get this whole thing started in the first place!!
 

rikers_mailbox

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2003
739
0
LA-la-land
I think Sony, like Apple, has realized that there is no money in 'The Store'. iTMS is only used to drive iPod sales, Jobs has made this clear. Likewise, this Sony "Connect" thing is intended just to boost sales of Sony products that basicallly already existed. Nothing to see here folks, please move aside.

. . .and MiniDiscs? wtf? Those have been a flop for years! Give it up, Sony.
 

coolsoldier

macrumors 6502
Jan 7, 2003
402
0
The 909
Minidiscs aren't popular enough (at least in U.S.) to have any kind of marketing appeal for the service.

The one thing I've heard so far that gives this service an edge is the ability to burn to mp3 cds. A lot of CD players, including car stereos can play mp3s from cds but not AACs. So, I'm thinking that being able to burn mp3 cds might turn out to be a big advantage -- it's one of the things I miss from the MP3 days.

Also, anybody know what kind of success they've had in negotiating with other labels? I'd think labels might be reluctant to let other labels sell their stuff (since the label running the store could adjust prices to make their own music more lucrative, and in a proprietary format like ATRAC, that's a big risk because consumers can't switch)
 
Hmm, this is a tough one to call. On the one hand, phew, no WMA or compatibility with any popular players in the USA or 3rd party players. That would have provided apple some serious competition on it's own ground, but it looks like that will be waiting for microsoft (and here I must wonder, is it better apple and ms head to head, or have a third party?). But, I think sony was smart with this one, finding it's own new attributes so it can divide the market and two, and give each player it's own niche. And, it's really smart, b/c this will boom in japan, and not fall off there, either. If you want to sell it globally, japan is not at all a bad place to start. Plus, they now have a market that's going to be all theirs for a good while, making them start as apple's equal, globally.

Anyone wanna list a good set of specs on mini-disc players? How big are they, how much do they hold, how much do they cost, etc.?
 

funkywhat2

macrumors 6502a
Jul 14, 2002
669
0
i tried installing it on my wintel, it doesn't let you specify a drive to install it on. it has to be on the boot drive. wtf is that, are they scanning your drive and sending reports back to sony each time you boot up?
 

LethalWolfe

macrumors G3
Jan 11, 2002
9,370
124
Los Angeles
coolfactor said:
How is this any different than Apple's strategy?

Apple latched it's service onto the best selling player out there. Sony latched it's onto a format that has never, and probably will never, be considered a success at the consumer level in any way, shape, or form. There is a huge difference between riding a huge wave of popularity and trying to pull your own prodcut out of the gutter it has lived in for years.


EDIT: Maybe this isn't part of the apeal for everyone but one of the biggest reasons I want an iPod is so I can all of my music w/me in a very small, convient, easy to use device. I don't want to replace my CD wallet w/a MiniDsic wallet, or a Flash memory wallet. I don't want to fumble w/media going, "Gee, which one did I put that really Blind Guardian song on?" or go hunting around my flat saying, "Fudge, where did I put that darn disc?" If I have to screw around w/media I'll save myself some dough and just keep screwing around w/my CDs.


Lethal
 

ClimbingTheLog

macrumors 6502a
May 21, 2003
633
0
ATRAC OK, Sony out to Lunch

jxyama said:
i also believe ATRAC is not as bad as you make it sound. i have over 500 MD recorded, some of them using MDLP2, and they are just fine. i don't see obvious evidence that they are any worse than AAC for most music.

The original ATRAC was really bad, a 3-subband coder. But to be fair, this was a few years before mp2 was even standardized. It was old bad technology.

The newer ATRAC is supposed to be better, but what's the point of jumping onto yet another Sony proprietary wagon? Betamax, MiniDisc, MemoryStick, now Connect, where's the value to the consumer? It's all value for Sony and their product just isn't that compelling. They've got it backwards.
 

Gyroscope

macrumors regular
Apr 29, 2002
185
0
Althought I think that Apple's combination (integration) of its music store and venerable IPod is still unmatched, I wouldn't diss Sony that quickly. No matter what you think about their music store/device package you have to remember that sony has much more money and muscle to push their product. Sony owns 1/5 of all commercial music available,owns TV/Movie studios(to advertise through) ,game console division (PS3 will certainly be able to download and play music). They can reach milions and milions of people. In my opinion Sony is bigger threat to Apple (in online music business) then Microsoft or.
 

neutrino23

macrumors 68000
Feb 14, 2003
1,881
391
SF Bay area
I haven't been able to tell if this is multinational or just the US. If it includes Japan and other parts of Asia that could be good for Sony. There are many MD users over there and some might be tempted to stay with the format now that it has been enhanced by the music store.

For the US, it is hard to believe this can work. The early adopters have already bought something like six million players of various sorts. On the other hand, that means there are a couple hundred million people in the US without some sort of a portable music player. Over the long term there is a possibility for them to make some success of this. I don't see it being a major player but over the long term as this sort of thing spreads internationally they have a chance to succeed. They have already written off many of the costs of MD so it isn't too expensive for them.

Also, this is not quite the same as the Beta/VHS issue. That market was destined to settle on one format. With players you don't really care what other people use as long as your own player can still get software online.

Finally, I have a couple of MDs but haven't used them in years. Not since I discovered iTunes and the ability to record on my PowerBook. Managing boxes of MDs is just a pain. Boosting the size to around 1GB will just make life more complicated. It could work if you had a really small music collection. Then you could just use one disk.
 
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