@murz memory sticks actually had some upsides over SD cards (iirc for a while they were the medium of choice for photographers), and I do think those gumstick batteries allow for sleeker devices, but being able to just pop eneloops into this one and charge them in my fast charger is super handy. Will probably make me use this player way more than my other one 😄

@noiob out of curiosity, how did you come to have, presumably, quite a collection of mini discs? were they ever a popular medium?

@murz afaik they were quite popular in Europe but I don't actually have a Minidisc collection to speak of, before today I had one player and one Disc I found in an e-waste box at uni :D

@murz I'm also too young to ever have used them back when they were a thing, when I was a teen everyone already had mp3 players (or iPods, if you were a cool kid)

@noiob there’s certainly some romance about hearing music from an old ‘record’ on a vintage tech piece. :)

@murz it's also cool tech, I already like the sound of the word "magneto-optical"

@noiob it’s called that? nice! well, until stuff starts levitating around it..

@murz yeah it's a magnetic disc but it's read by a laser! and you use a laser to erase it by heating it to its Curie point

@noiob it’s great to know the fun side of curie temp’s application! just had to google it at work today. now ill just smile and think of your minidisc player when the project heats up. thanks!

@murz oh! I'd never thought about the fact that it's not always a desired effect D:

there's also self-regulating tips for soldering irons that rely on Curie temps, Weller's "Magnastat" line

@noiob wait, so it heats up to a point, then the internal lead pops apart to remove the thermal/electrical conduction? that’s neat!