Last week as I was rummaging through my junk drawer I discovered a minidisc of a DJ set that I had done exactly 5 years before at a party. I vaguely recalled some of the tunes I had played, and was eager to listen to how lousy my mixing skills were back there. Tucked away in the same drawer was my little minidisc player. It, along, with an old Advantix camera that lurked in the same drawer, had given way to their digital counterparts. 
Still, I thought it would be cool to revive the format, or at least make an honest effort of listening to all those old mixes I had made. Unfortunately I remembered why I had put away the minidisc player in the first place..the earphone jack was essentially busted. Wah.
Although I haven't tried to find one yet, I doubt that there is a place in town that will fix my player at a price that would make it worth while. Planned obsolescence. Another piece of equipment for the landfill.
But I still want to listen to those old mixes! Old players on craigslist, perhaps? Two people are trying to dump theirs. Wonder why...perhaps they want to avoid dumping their minidisc players in the landfill and thought it best just to sluff it off to someone else.
And then a revelation...Sony has at least one last minidisc recorder/player on the market..the MZ-M200 that uses Hi-MD technology that now lets you store up to 34 hours of music..yippee! But at $400, maybe I'm just kidding myself into thinking it's worth ever trying to listen to that minidisc ever again.
Still, I thought it would be cool to revive the format, or at least make an honest effort of listening to all those old mixes I had made. Unfortunately I remembered why I had put away the minidisc player in the first place..the earphone jack was essentially busted. Wah.
Although I haven't tried to find one yet, I doubt that there is a place in town that will fix my player at a price that would make it worth while. Planned obsolescence. Another piece of equipment for the landfill.
But I still want to listen to those old mixes! Old players on craigslist, perhaps? Two people are trying to dump theirs. Wonder why...perhaps they want to avoid dumping their minidisc players in the landfill and thought it best just to sluff it off to someone else.
And then a revelation...Sony has at least one last minidisc recorder/player on the market..the MZ-M200 that uses Hi-MD technology that now lets you store up to 34 hours of music..yippee! But at $400, maybe I'm just kidding myself into thinking it's worth ever trying to listen to that minidisc ever again.As I was in my little internet rabbithole, I came to recall so many media formats have come and gone...Beta, the laser disc, 8 track tapes, DAT (digital audio tapes), DCC (digital compact cassettes). You can even add the HD DVD now to that list.
Sure I have my 160gig mp3playerthatremainsunnamed, and I have a staggering amount of digital music stored on my computer, but there is something sublime about making a mixtape (or in this case a mix MD) and holding it in your hand...titling it in your own lousy handwriting and sharing it with someone. Or finding it years later in a junk drawer.
Sharing a flashdrive, or attaching an mp3 in an email just isn't quite the same.
1 comment:
I just found and am diggin' you new blog.
Ah yes, the mini disc player. I remember a friend of mine converted most of his collection to the mini disc so he could easily bring it with him when he moved to England. Now he's asking for access to my musical library to fill in the gaps in his collection.
I had an APS Advantix camera for years.
Seems to me there's a little too much "Planned obsolescence" going on of late, but then again, I'm quite low tech.
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