Alan Dowds wrote:
>
> You guys certainly have a point about the ease of MP3 transfer to CDR/RW
> compared to MD. But do remember how many computer illiterates there are out
> there. Most of the people in my work can't fill the laser printer with
> paper, much less download the latest LAME ripper, sort out a broadband
> internet connection and set up Nero to do a disk at once transfer.
True, but are computer illiterates techno-savvy enough to want to buy MD
equipment in the first place? I know many computer illiterates (usually
parents of my friends, people in their 50's), and they stick to old
audio media, like LP's and cassettes. They have enough trouble adapting
to CD. Sometimes their kids try to get them into newer media, like
CD's, but it's an uphill struggle. :)
I can tell by what FEW ads for MD that I've seen, their primary market
focus is people in their late teens and 20's. Most of these people are
fairly computer literate. Everyone I know in my age group with a PC
owns a CD-RW drive. Those who aren't computer literate, ask friends
that are to burn CD's.
> I don't think MD is dead here in the UK. Anyone who used to use cassette can
> easily deal with the real-time recording thing (it's also analogous with VCR
> recording). All the high street electrical stores are packed with portables,
> lifestyle systems and decks. Blanks are everywhere.
Yeah, it definitely sounds like MD is faring MUCH better in Europe and
Asia. I haven't tried accessing any of the big electronics companies
websites for Europe and Asia, but for the US market, I don't see any new
car MD players from Clarion, Kenwood, or Pioneer. JVC seems to have
dropped MD altogether, which is a shame, because the KD-MX3000 was quite
a cool deck which I would have liked to see carry on. On the other
hand, Aiwa, Kenwood, Clarion, and JVC all have new decks that will play
MP3 CD-RW's. This seems to be the hot thing now. If I go to any of the
large local electronics stores, the MD displays are nearly nonexistent.
It was a different story back in 1996-98 when there was much more
optimism for the format! Now MP3 players and standalone CD-R/RW
recorders fill the shelves where MD equipment once stood proud.
> Having said all that, it does seem childish and pathetic that a technology
> which uses random access MO disks can't use some sort of faster than real
> time PC integration. In this day and age! Imagine if yo could buy an
> internal IDE MD drive for �90, including drag and drop software, MP3-ATRAC
> codecs, a couple of those saucy gold blanks...
I honestly think this is all it would take to greatly increase
marketshare in the US. Well, depending on price of course.
Shawn
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