Sony building a digital walkman

Tim Trampedach writes "Sony has previewed what they think is the MP3 killer by storing audio on a "Memory Stick". Not too much technical detail, but interesting that Sony is joining the crowd. "

Comments

Why not Flash RAM (or whatever)

[D-Fly]

Sony has been pushing this stuff for a while. In fact, my next computer (the Sony 505ZX) is going to have a slot for Memory Sticks built-in.

The question is, why should we all get so excited about a new standard that doesn't offer much of an advantage over, say, Compact Flash? Compact flash actually costs less than Memory Stick at this point, and near as I can tell, it's smaller too.

I have a little Olympus camera that stores on Compact Flash, and a new 4 meg clip costs about $20 bucks, vs. $30 for a 4 meg memory stick (if I recall.

CF is thinner and shorter than memory stick, though a little wider.

I haven't seen specs, but I assume they are about the same speed, since they are based on similar technology.

Thus I have to conclude that Sony is just trying to push a proprietary spec on us so they can make an extra buck, even though there is an equivalent and cheaper technology already available.

Therefore all the ZDNET and CNET and even New York Times articles on itis corporate hype and we should probably ignore it.

As for the MP3 killer part, why would anyone buy a Sony machine that doesn't do copies when they can get one that does, and uses the widely available MP3 format? The answer, oddly enough, is that they probably will. Oh well.