End of an era: Sony MiniDisc Walkman canned after 19 years

Sony announced that MiniDisc (MD) Walkman's will no longer be produced after September this year. Last year, Sony stopped production of its cassette Walkman players.

The MD Walkman was launched in Japan in 1992 and was touted as a superior jitter-free product for listening to CD quality music on the go. But, as we all know, MP3 players like iPods quickly snapped up that market, and today the move is all to phones being your portable music device as well.

Sony will continue to produce MD media and kits to play these on hi-fi systems.

i had always hoped this would have taken off in canada i thought they were better then cd ;) smaller no scratches ;p

I have certainly seen a lot of various recording media come and go ... vinyl records, 8 track tapes, cassette tapes, just read recently that Kodak slide film is being discontinued, (one of my first jobs was developing slide film for a small neighborhood photo store), vhs is fading fast, analog has given way to digital ...

As fast as technology is evolving, I'm just wondering what/how media will be transmitted even 5 years from now... and will we be able to keep pace and market effectively as it changes.

But will we even need media? Gigabit Internet is here and in my city next year with 4g and whatever us next do I need some storage? I use hd's vz multiple CDs or dual layer DVDs or portable USB drive there small and very large now..

hmm.. where will be be in another 19 years? ( interpreted: makes no never mind to me my life warranty should be just about up and my plastic surgeon has instructions to make me over as ZAC EFFRON with ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER'S body for the casket! ... I'm a BARBIE BOY in a BARBIE WORLD , it's fantastic now my stiffies plastic ... - LOL )

- jim

I still have one of these, bought many years ago... the sound was really good, much better than any ipod/pad, but alas, it no longer works...