RE: MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
I asked Sony this exact question, several months ago. Got no response. It may be that they want to go this direction, but aren't talking about it yet. It amazes me that it would take them so long to release such a product. -- Howard Chu Chief Architect, Symas Corp. Director, Highland Sun http://www.symas.com http://highlandsun.com/hyc - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
Hi everyone! I have read about the MD Discam on the Sony Web site and it only can hold up to 20 minutes worth of video on one MD Data2 disc which can hold 640 Mb of data. If Sony improved the disc access time for MD Data so that it is comparable to a hard disk, they could end up with a product that overtakes Iomega's low-end removeable data storage solutions easily. The orginal MD Data hardware was known to be as slow as a floppy, require a SCSI interface which wasn't common on PCs at the time of its release; and was very expensive. Iomega stole the thunder out of this format because its portable Zip drive had higher-speed access, worked with a parallel-port interface and was sold in a price-subsidised manner where there were cheap drives and expensive media. Now the landscape for MD Data has changed significantly. Most computers made since 1997 have a USB port on them for connection of removeable media devices and similar peripherals and Firewire is now considered a valid option for a ultra-high-speed access prot for removeable media hardware. If a manufacturer designs a USB peripheral such as a removeable-media drive to consume a small amount of power, they can have the device draw power from the host computer. The speed of access and data throughput can be improved by use of higher-than-normal spindle speeds and spinning constant-linear-velocity media like CD-ROM and MD Data at a fixed spindle speed unless "real-time" data like sound or video is being moved. Also, an MD Data 2 disc can carry over 1440 1.3 Megapixel JPEG digital camera images held at a low compression ratio, or 320 2.1 Megapixel images held at a low compression rate. This format will be a boon to the digital camera user, who has to mess around with buying lots of expensive memory cards to use their digital camera at its best potential or use low-resolution shooting modes which don't bring out the best in today's digital cameras so they can cover themselves for a long photography session. A good peripheral that makes use of MD Data 2 would be an image-transfer unit which copies images held on a memory card onto an MD Data 2 disc. This is in a similar vein to what Iomega are selling with their PocketZip drive for digital cameras and their Fotoshiw Image Viewer which copies digital images from Compact Flash or SmartMedia cards to Zip disks. - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
=== = NB: Over 50% of this message is QUOTED, please = = be more selective when quoting text = === Well, I think anyone who buys Iomega products deserves the shafting they get with the inferior products: Here's Iomega's MD competetor: http://www.iomega.com/hipzip/index.html $299, with 40MB (20 minutes of 256kbps MP3) media costing $10. Wow, they are REAL cool! /sarcasm -Rob - Original Message - From: "Simon Mackay" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: "MiniDisc Mailing List (E-mail)" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, April 07, 2001 8:57 AM Subject: MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a "Zip killer"? Hi everyone! I have read about the MD Discam on the Sony Web site and it only can hold up to 20 minutes worth of video on one MD Data2 disc which can hold 640 Mb of data. If Sony improved the disc access time for MD Data so that it is comparable to a hard disk, they could end up with a product that overtakes Iomega's low-end removeable data storage solutions easily. The orginal MD Data hardware was known to be as slow as a floppy, require a SCSI interface which wasn't common on PCs at the time of its release; and was very expensive. Iomega stole the thunder out of this format because its portable Zip drive had higher-speed access, worked with a parallel-port interface and was sold in a price-subsidised manner where there were cheap drives and expensive media. Now the landscape for MD Data has changed significantly. Most computers made since 1997 have a USB port on them for connection of removeable media devices and similar peripherals and Firewire is now considered a valid option for a ultra-high-speed access prot for removeable media hardware. If a manufacturer designs a USB peripheral such as a removeable-media drive to consume a small amount of power, they can have the device draw power from the host computer. The speed of access and data throughput can be improved by use of higher-than-normal spindle speeds and spinning constant-linear-velocity media like CD-ROM and MD Data at a fixed spindle speed unless "real-time" data like sound or video is being moved. Also, an MD Data 2 disc can carry over 1440 1.3 Megapixel JPEG digital camera images held at a low compression ratio, or 320 2.1 Megapixel images held at a low compression rate. This format will be a boon to the digital camera user, who has to mess around with buying lots of expensive memory cards to use their digital camera at its best potential or use low-resolution shooting modes which don't bring out the best in today's digital cameras so they can cover themselves for a long photography session. A good peripheral that makes use of MD Data 2 would be an image-transfer unit which copies images held on a memory card onto an MD Data 2 disc. This is in a similar vein to what Iomega are selling with their PocketZip drive for digital cameras and their Fotoshiw Image Viewer which copies digital images from Compact Flash or SmartMedia cards to Zip disks. - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
Well, I think anyone who buys Iomega products deserves the shafting they get with the inferior products: Here's Iomega's MD competetor: http://www.iomega.com/hipzip/index.html $299, with 40MB (20 minutes of 256kbps MP3) media costing $10. Wow, they are REAL cool! /sarcasm I use an iomega 2 gig external jaz drive and it works great. Iomega makes good products. You can't expect them to come out with an mp3 player as prices much lower than what market forces dictate. If they did that, people might think it's cheap stuff. This is the same reason that Sony is selling that MD-video thing for $2500, when most *digital* video cameras cost so much less. I don't expect data-MD to be pushed heavily for at least a couple of years. That camera is pretty much a public prototype for at least a couple of years. Memory stick is sony's current strategy. It's at the core of their whole cross-product compatible computer/audio/still video thing. Maybe as firewire and consumer-level digital video grows on the PC front, this kind of MD-video thing will catch on more. - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
Well, I think anyone who buys Iomega products deserves the shafting they get with the inferior products: Here's Iomega's MD competetor: http://www.iomega.com/hipzip/index.html $299, with 40MB (20 minutes of 256kbps MP3) media costing $10. Wow, they are REAL cool! /sarcasm I use an iomega 2 gig external jaz drive and it works great. Iomega makes good products. You can't expect them to come out with an mp3 player at prices much lower than what market forces dictate. If they did that, people might think it's cheap stuff. Although I agree that the hipzip is for suckers. This is the same reason that Sony is selling that MD-video thing for $2500, when most *digital* video cameras cost so much less. I don't expect data-MD to be pushed heavily for at least a couple of years. That camera is pretty much a public prototype for now. Memory stick is sony's current strategy. It's at the core of their whole cross-product compatible computer/audio/still video thing. Maybe as firewire and consumer-level digital video grows on the PC front, this kind of MD-video thing will catch on more. But still, 20 minutes is not much recording time. - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
"iomega makes good products"? have you ever heard of the click of death? No. - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
If Sony improved the disc access time for MD Data so that it is comparable to a hard disk, they could end up with a product that overtakes Iomega's low-end removeable data storage solutions easily. Yeah but do you know what you are asking here? MD is opti-magnetic which means there are two heads instead of one banging around in there and one of them is too fragile to be zipping back and forth as fast as a hard drive head does (too fast to even see) This is why you don't see CD ROMS as fast as HDs. Hard disks a build with non-removable platters to very high tolerences and tightly sealed in alluminun chasis. They are also power hogs, and they are magnetic read/write. That is why they are so fast. To modify MD to the point where it was as fast as even the slowest HD on the market today would requite that MD be modified to the point where it isn't even recognizable as MD anymore, and it sure wouldn't be cheap. Chad Gombosi Member SCP www.scponline.net Chad's Game Music Page www.chadsgamemusic.com MP3.com page: www.mp3.com/signofzeta "Let me explain a couple of things. Time is short. That's the first thing. For the weasel, Time is a weasel. For the hero, Time is heroic. For the whore, Time is just another trick. If you're gentle, your Time is gentle. If you're in a hurry, Time flies. Time is a servant, if you are its master. Time is your god, if you are its dog. We are the creators of Time, the victims of Time, and the killers of Time. Time is timeless. That's the second thing. You are the clock, Cassiel." Emit - Far Away So Close _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
"iomega makes good products"? have you ever heard of the click of death? No. Really? Wow. I thought everyone would have experienced this crap by now. Basicly you put a Zip disk (usually in another machine than the one you normally use it in) and instead of it reading, it just keeps resetting the drive mech over and over until it tells you the disk is no good, which at this point it isn't because the drive has destroyed all the data on it. This happnen ALL THE TIME. Usually my Zip disks never leave my house so I don't see it happen with my IDE Zip drive, but I've seen it happen with all kinds of Zip drives from old parallel externals, to the ones that ship in brand new G4s. If you visit a univeristy computer lab with a few hundered machines in it you will hear it every few minutes. Chad Gombosi Member SCP www.scponline.net Chad's Game Music Page www.chadsgamemusic.com MP3.com page: www.mp3.com/signofzeta "Let me explain a couple of things. Time is short. That's the first thing. For the weasel, Time is a weasel. For the hero, Time is heroic. For the whore, Time is just another trick. If you're gentle, your Time is gentle. If you're in a hurry, Time flies. Time is a servant, if you are its master. Time is your god, if you are its dog. We are the creators of Time, the victims of Time, and the killers of Time. Time is timeless. That's the second thing. You are the clock, Cassiel." Emit - Far Away So Close _ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
MD: MD Data 2 - why can't it be marketed as a Zip killer?
=== The original message was multipart MIME=== === All non-text parts (attachments) have been removed === - To stop getting this list send a message containing just the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
