Sony has announced it is to end production of its MiniDisc Walkman portable music player in September 2011. The decision must have been a difficult one for Sony after having the MiniDisc Walkman on the market for 19 years.
Sony has taken the decision to stop manufacturing the MiniDisc Walkman, a product which first appeared on the market back in 1992. Demand for the MiniDisc player has fallen off to such an extent that Sony has finally decided the time is right to send the player into retirement.
In the early 1990s, owning a MiniDisc player was the epitome of cool. You could put a whole album onto a disc. Suddenly the massively popular Walkman cassette player as well as the larger portable CD player had a serious rival to contend with. This ultimately led to the end for the Walkman Cassette Player.
However, trouble began to gather around the MiniDisc Walkman about ten years ago with the introduction of the iPod. The iPod has caused the end of many music playing handheld products. Having the ability to add music to a flash based memory device and not carrying CD’s and cassettes with you is what makes the iPod so compelling.
This change suddenly made the MiniDisc player look like a rather cumbersome piece of kit in comparison. It was no longer cool to be seen fumbling about in a bag looking for badly labeled discs. It is a sad moment for all Mini Disc owners as this was a revolutionary device in the 1990’s. Farewell to the Sony MiniDisc Walkman. May retirement treat you well.
