Minidisc
Now I liked Minidisc- it was great for compilations (it was digital! it told you how much was left on the disc! it allowed you to skip tracks!) and it sounded better than even chrome tapes, but when I look back on it, I spent a chuffing fortune on the format. I bought at least one hundred blank minidiscs three Walkmans over a five year period and two full sized seperates- one of which was a Sony JA-20ES which cost £500. Yes. Five. Hundred. Quid. Do I still have this masterpiece? No. The disc mech (which wasn't a pop eject but a lovely slidey tray) cracked a piece of plastic worth about a penny which rendered it scrap. Sony then announced there were no more mechs.

The other day, I found a minidisc lurking folornly in a draw of cables, the sole survivor of at least a grands worth of money spunked on it. Still could be worse- could have been DCC.

Length? 74 minutes 59 seconds extended to 80 minutes later in the life of the format.
(Leonard Hatred briefly did some work on, Tue 5 Oct 2010, 17:28, 5 replies)

I quite liked Minidisc personally
It's a shame that mp3 players started improving and then the horrid Apple iPod cornering the market finally saw it off. I ended up buying a separates player and MZ-R1 'Walkman' Minidisc unit.
(Panteneman Isn't entirely sure why he bothered on, Tue 5 Oct 2010, 20:40, closed)

I still have minidisc and completely adore it. I know it's illogical but the rattley little plastic discs just feel both high tech and marvellously retro. I'll be gutted when my player dies and I'm left with my convenient but souless mp3's.
(Brambly Slag is strangely attracted to Steve Buscemi, Tue 5 Oct 2010, 23:14, closed)

I still use mine even though the lcd doesn't display anything
and the rechargeable battery only lasts about an hour, and its my third one because they had too many moving parts and broke all the time and ATRAC compression is shit. Oh and The Matrix made us believe that hackers sold viruses to bald guys all on the format way back in 1999 and when we finally did get to use mini discs to store data it was totally shit and took ages! ARGH! Why do I love you!
( Peej, Wed 6 Oct 2010, 9:28, closed)

To be clear
I liked Minidisc. I just cannot think of other part of my audio history which cost me that much with that little to show for it. By way of comparison, I must have spent at least four grand on vinyl all in but still use that most days. It has residual value as well.
(Leonard Hatred briefly did some work on, Wed 6 Oct 2010, 9:38, closed)

I bought a Minidisc player and a pile of discs from a car boot sale a few years ago for a couple of quid.
It all came in a Currys bag, complete with a receipt and extended warranty dated about 6 months before.

Ipods were just becoming popular so I expect whoever'd bought the Minidisc had been given an ipod for Christmas.

The Minidisc clobber still sits on my shelf.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Wed 6 Oct 2010, 16:19, closed)