MiniDisc - An Appreciation
Why Hacker News recommends it
The standard recommendation for MiniDisc history, especially as a non-American counterpoint to the failed-format story.
What it is
Techmoan's 45-minute retrospective on Sony's MiniDisc, covering the first and last machines, ATRAC, MD-LP, Net-MD and HiMD. It argues the format deserves more credit than its US failure narrative suggests.
Recommended by 5 HN commenters across 5 different months, 2019 to 2023.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec LeoPanthera · 2019-04 · on “Ask HN: Which great products didn't succeed?”
It was a massive success everywhere except the USA. But because the USA defines history, it was a "failure". Wonderful video about the format: [this video]
Recommends sorenjan · 2020-03 · on “Dumping MiniDisc Media”
> There is still something so cool about MiniDisc though Agree. I really wanted one for years, I even had some blank discs to fidget with, but when I could finally afford one the iPod had come out and I bought that instead. Part of me still wants to buy a MiniDisc player and some discs, but I try to keep the amount of stuff I own down to the essentials, and vintage electronic doesn't really make the cut. TechMoan on Youtube have a few videos about the MiniDisc format for anyone interested. [this video] [LINK]
Recommends mikepurvis · 2020-10 · on “Building replacement proprietary battery packs”
As a younger person who missed out, I recently enjoyed this mini-documentary— especially the surprisingly lengthy history of the many devices for a supposedly "failed" format: [this video]
Recommends zinekeller · 2021-06 · on “The MiniDisc: the failure of a forgotten format (2020)”
Ah yes, another American-centric viewpoint (which is correct, no qualms about that part) but in other countries (probably with the exclusion of inner reaches of Africa and, uhm, Canada) MiniDisc (at the late 1990's and early 2000's)... is just there: a reliable way to have portable copies of your music. P.S. British viewpoint by Techmoan (which pointed out the American-centric "MiniDisc is a failure"): [this video] P.P.S. A direct rebuttal (to the point it was titled "The (Not) Forgotten Audio Format That (Never) Failed"): [LINK]
Recommends NoZebra120vClip · 2023-04 · on “Minidisc FAQ: MDLP (“Long-Play”) Mode Topics”
Reference to Techmoan is de rigeur : [this video] Especially any of you kids who weren't around when the MiniDisc craze swept the world like a wildfire gone berzerk.