Sony Portable Mini-Disc Player/Recorder (MZR500PC)

- [Mr. Mobile] One of the cruelest truths in technology is that being better doesn't always mean being the winner. Almost 20 years ago, my uncle gave me one of the best pieces of technology I've ever owned, a product that still sells for over $200 on eBay despite the fact that the format it's built on has been dead for years. Before smartphone media players, before the iPod, there was the MiniDisc player: a musical companion ahead of its time. (upbeat electronic music) To understand why I loved this thing so much, you need to understand the world into which it was launched. When this model came out in 1999, the preferred device for listening to your Dido on the go was the Discman. And I hated it. It was bulkier than the Walkman it was supposed to replace, because the CDs it played were bigger than cassettes. CDs were also more fragile than tapes, so they were always skipping if there wa