las wrote:
>
> Truth be told this went so far because there just isn't a heck of a lot
> happening in the world of MD. Besides long play MDs and the a person who
> occasionally needs help, we don't have a bunch of new models to talk about.
True, it's not like it was 3-years ago. There was a time when this list
was really busy and I couldn't hardly keep track of it. This was back
when I bought my MDS-JB920 right when they first came out.
> Aiwa, once a very strong supporter of MD has decided to discontinue
> manufacturing MD gear.
Sad. JVC has already discontinued MD gear in the US.
> With the exception of Japan, even outside of the US, MD just isn't what it
> should have been. I just can't understand what the problem is. I personally
> think MD is so great that I would have no problem if we didn't have CD any more.
I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is, but we've discussed this
before.
Sony and other manufacturers didn't keep up with the times and changing
trends. Downloading music from the Internet is big these days, and
there are far easier formats to use for this than MD. Not only are they
easier, they're cheaper too.
I recently saw a hot deal posted on a message board that I frequent.
Philips 8x CD-RW drive for $42 after rebate. Spindles of 50-blank
CD-R's for $8.99 at OfficeMax. Sadly, it's just easier, faster, and
cheaper to record online audio like MP3's to a CD-R or RW (yes, even
CD-RW's are cheaper than MD blanks these days). Not only that, but you
can record your DATA to it too! Twice as convenient! Occasionally I
check out the rec.audio.car newsgroup as I'm big into car audio. The
hot thing there are car MP3 players. Most are CD-based and can read a
data CD-R/RW. "When's the JVC KD-SH99 coming out?" - I must have seen
that question asked a thousand times. The SH99, FYI, is one of those
MP3-decoding car stereos. JVC has dropped MD players in their car audio
line, and added MP3-decoding stereos. Kenwood has one, Clarion has more
than one (I think), Sony has one, Aiwa has several, and the list goes on
and on.
Oh yeah, and you can get an Apex AD-500W standalone DVD player that will
decode MP3 CD-R/RW also, for the low price of $92.87 when I last
checked.
Maybe there will be a rebirth of MD equipment when Sony's license
expires. I don't know if it's true, but I read somewhere that after
10-years, audio format licenses expire and then companies don't have to
pay license fees anymore. I read that it was the reason why CD didn't
really start gaining in popularity at a high rate until 10-years after
its introduction in '81 or '82. True, or not?
Shawn
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