General Information

Serial #

B1114134

Part Number

2

Total Parts

2

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

SYNTHETIC & METAL COMPONENTS.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

7.1 cm

Width

6.8 cm

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Sound

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Sony

Country

Japan

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

THIS RECORDER USED C. 1996-2000.

Canada

ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR THE MASS MARKET, MINIDISC HAS BEEN USED AS A PORTABLE PLAYER FOR MUSIC COPIED FROM CDS OR FROM MP3 FILES AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET. THE ARTIFACT, HOWEVER,WAS USED BY CBC RADIO NEWS REPORTERS FOR NEWS GATHERING. IN THE NEWSROOM, THE REPORTER DOWNLOADED FILES TO HIS OR HER COMPUTER WORKSTATION, WHERE THEY COULD BE EDITED FOR NEWSCAST USING "DALET" SOFTWARE AND STORED ON A SERVER FOR DISTRIBUTION OVER A LOCAL AREA NETWORK. THIS ALLOWED THE PRODUCTION OF NEWSCASTS TO BE LARGELY AUTOMATED, WITH REPORTERS AND PRODUCERS USING COMPUTER SOFTWARE TO PERFORM MANY TASKS ONCE DONE BY TECHNICIANS." (Ref. 1)

Function

TO RECORD AUDIO INPUT AS COMPRESSED DIGITAL DATA ON A MAGNETO-OPTICAL DISC.

Technical

INTRODUCED C. 1992, MINIDISC EMPLOYS A MAGNETO-OPTICAL MEDIUM THAT IS RECORDED AND ERASED USING A LASER AND A MAGNETIC HEAD. THE LASER ALTERS THE MAGNETIC COERCIVITY TO ERASE THE PREVIOUS DATA, ALLOWING THE MAGNETIC HEAD TO THEN IMPART A NEW BIT PATTERN THROUGH POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE POLARIZATION. MINIDISC EMPLOYS DIGITAL COMPRESSION TO REDUCE STORAGE REQUIREMENTS BY A FACTOR OF 5 TO 1. ONE MINIDISC CAN HOLD 74 MINUTES OF SOUND. BY RECORDING ON A DISC, RANDOM ACCESS IS POSSIBLE, MAKING MINIDISC MORE SUITED THAN TAPE TO EDITING ON A COMPUTER WORKSTATION. " (Ref. 1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"Mini/ Disc" printed in white in upper right corner; "SONY" printed in white in lower left corner. " 74 min/ Digital Audio MiniDisc/ MDW-74" printed in gold on disc front. " MADE IN JAPAN " & "Mini/ Disc" cast in casing back; "B1114134" stamped in white, near top edge.

Missing

N/A

Finish

MEDIUM GREY SYNTHETIC DISC CASING.

Decoration

N/A