Japan is often regarded as a country full of people living on the absolute cutting edge of technology, with everyone enjoying cell phones light years ahead of the rest of the world, sleek notebook computers with more power than can be used, and sexy portable music devices with more functions and features than a Boeing 787 DreamLiner. This misconception was created in the 1980s with the help of cult movies and (occasionally racist) depictions of the country. The truth, of course, is very different from the stereotype.
People in Japan are just as normal as people living in other countries and have access to many of the same devices that people in North America and Europe use. Most cell phones that you’ll see out in public are over two years old and not very cool. And, when it comes to music, not everyone uses an iPod to listen to their favorite artist.
Why do I say this? Because while looking for blank DVDs at a store the other day, I came across these:
MO discs used in MD players.
Does anyone still use these things? Both the Mrs. and I have an MD player collecting dust in the closet, but we haven’t used them in several years. Heck, combined, we have close to 20 minidiscs with a capacity of 230 MB each. That might not seem like a lot now, but it was great back in the day when 5 hours of music on a little disc seemed magical.
With the number of people in this part of the country changing the way they live to be more environmentally friendly and less wasteful, I wouldn’t be surprised if we started to see more of the older technologies put to use again. Too often we replace perfectly functional equipment for something new just because we’ve been bitten by “the shopping bug”. Heck, I’m still trying to not envy every person I see with an HP Envy 15 tucked under their arm.
Thankfully, HP isn’t nearly as popular in Japan as it is overseas. The shopping bug is still under control.
How often do you see really old storage media in the store? When was the last time you saw Betamax or 8-track tapes? Do you laugh when you see them, or reflect on how much has changed since those old formats were popular?
Are you absolutely sure about this, Jason? Unless something has changed in the last five or six years, MO discs are for MO drives, and MiniDiscs are for MD players. I don’t use it anymore, but I have an MO drive kicking around somewhere. Back in the day, burning CDs was really awkward, so these MO discs were great because they were just as big, rewritable, didn’t need any special software, and you could just drag files onto them like you could with floppy discs. The only downside is you need to buy an MO drive to use them.
Also, check out the stereos next time you’re at an electronics shop, you’ll see most of them still have MD players built in.
Like the new theme by the way!
On the back of the package they were showing the Sony and Panasonic MD players with a bunch of extra messages on the 640MB package saying they wouldn’t work on older drives. I was a bit confused, too, because I’ve always seen MO drives as something like the Imation Super Drive.
Next time I go to the store I’ll take some better pictures. The sales people were staring at me because I was taking snapshots with my cell phone. Well … I think that’s why they were staring, anyways
I second Nick; those are certainly magnetic-optical discs, not minidiscs. Those things were great back in the day when 1X CD burners still cost an arm and a leg. I think we still get files delivered from some printers on the damn things.
1x burners still cost an arm and a leg. I think I saw someone sell a 12-pack of used 1x CD burners for $0.01 on eBay a few weeks back. Who has that kind of cash just sitting around?
That said, I’m almost certain the カタカナ on the back of these packages were talking about MD players and recorders….
Well, I’ve been wrong before, and I’m probably wrong here, too. The next time I go to this place I’ll be sure to check out the packaging again and take pictures. Knowing my luck, I misread everything that said “THIS WILL NOT WORK IN YOUR SONY OR PANASONIC MD PLAYER”
Yes, we use them in the studio swap mixes around with each other, get samples on location, and just for fun because of the small size, PCM quality and retro steampunk smallest LP in the world form factor.
Nice article…and yes I still use my Sony MZ-M100. I recently did a blog post and cited a friend’s commentary on why he uses his still. U can find the post here: http://www.vibesnscribes.com/?p=1749