Forgotten Tech: The MiniDisc

(This is a new blog feature. From time to time, we'll take a moment to look at a forgotten piece of technology, that may or may not be Apple-related.)


Before there were iPods. Before there was even mp3 players, there were minidiscs. You may have heard of this mysterious format, or you may have been one of it's devout users. The technology holds a special place in my heart, and in some ways, the convenience and versatility of the minidisc is still unmatched.

Now wait, I know what you're thinking... how could I possibly think the minidisc is/was better than CDs or the iPod. Well, I don't.

No, the real beauty of the minidisc was in producing audio. In my college years, I hosted the morning radio show. The station ran on two things: minidiscs, and the beloved "cart" (a cartridge used in radio that's essentially a modified 8-track). In this environment, music could be split into different categories: Heavy, medium, light, for instance, and placed onto corresponding minidiscs. When a song was no longer needed, that song could be deleted without affecting the other tracks, and new music could be added. This was far quicker and more robust than CD-R's, and far more affordable than hard drive-based systems at that time.

Additionally, standalone units allowed for four-track mastering on minidiscs. This meant small radio stations could master things like promos and commercials directly onto the playback medium in perfect digital sound. (Later versions of minidisc used a ridiculous amount of compression, unsuitable to the pro/semi-pro audio environment.)

So someone could record a commercial in four tracks, take the minidisc to the control room, and it was ready to play. To duplicate this simplicity today, you would need a computer network, with computers in each room, significant audio shielding, bulky monitors and towers, and a way to reduce the noise from the towers. This is the march of technology.

Outside of radio, I used a portable Sony Walkman minidisc with recording capabilities for wedding videography. While it was a pain to sync up with the video, the full sound captured by a portable recorder/microphone worn by the groom sounded miles better than anything available today from a wireless microphone system.

I should also point out that same Walkman served as my first digital music player. I was able to hook it up via an included usb/optical adapter to my mac, and play the music from a CD in iTunes, while recording it onto the disc. powered by one AA battery, I could listen to the same 15 songs (or change discs) for days...

So here's to you, minidisc... You'll always have a special place in our hearts here at The Digital Lifestyle.