to find out more about minidiscs go to minidisc.org
Typical comment from posters of other competitors' threads.
And if you are referring to my TDFX posts, I do admit I own that stock as I have various other video chip/cardmaker stocks in the past (including S3). the TDFX thread has some of the most intelligent "techno-geeks" around. In fact that board has probably become more of a medium for discussing new technology than a TDFX board. Maybe you should read up on competitors' threads to see how S3 stands. You'll probably be pleasantly surprised.
And to clarify my position on what I meant by "continue to lose money in the future " i was refering to this coming quarters earnings. If you look at last quarter's earnings the only reason S3 stayed in the black was because of investment income, S3's video chip loss was substantial (>.09 loss off the top of my head) and nothing that i heard from S3 makes me think that this quarter will be any more profitable than the last. S3 does not have a high performance chip to boost it's margins nor does it have the necessary marketshare to remain profitable at the price points it has chosen to compete in. In the low end of the market, it has ATI, nVidia, and Intel to worry about. The salavation of the company, the GX4, it still remains a mystery as to whether or not S3 will be able to get final silicon and cards out by the ever important x-mas seasons. In addition, even if they do get the chips out, whether DIMD is capable of handling all of handling all of S3's needs.
And with regards to the RIO, I consider it to be a flash in a pan. DIMD itself does not have the clout nor the ability to control the MP3 player market. Every day it's current management team is in control of Rio's future, is another blow to the viability of the RIO. MP3 players will not survive until they have a standardized storage format and encryption standard. Those are the simple facts. Proprietary hardware in any competitive market is very short lived unless you are calling all the shots.
In regards to minidisc being around for 3 years... it's actually been around much longer than that... i think about 5 or 6. Sony introduced the format in the early 90s, but the compression algorithms that were used to compress the music was notoriously bad and MDs got a pretty bad rap. In addition, MD hardware back then was expensive and not very consumer friendly. But walk into any Good Guys or Circuit City and you'll be able to see the progress that MD players have made. With a unified advertising campaign (run by Sony), standardized compression algorithms, falling prices, and most importantly - cross platform compatibility (ie. walkman<->home desktop minisystems<->car stereos) MD players IMO are in a much better position to take over the portable music sector than MP3 players.
and to answer Herc's questions, a minidisc is about 20% smaller than a 3 1/2 inch floppy disk. It's recordable much like a tape. you plugin a line out from your computer, press play on winamp or whatever software mp3 player you have and press record on your mindisc player. 74 minutes later, bam, have a mix MD. you can label the tracks, erase individual songs, and move among the music much like a CD player. And on more thing, the MD itself is encased in a protective plastic sheath so it won't scratch like CD's. Current players run from $75-$150 with MD recorders running from $150 to about $300. Media costs about $3 retail and bout $1.50 off the web. You can find them at most electronics stores next to regular walkmans. (BTW, just got my DSL connection here in LA, and i gotta say, cruising along at 384 kbps is like a dream)
-ben |
