SanDisk wants microSD cards to displace CDs, launches 'œShuffle-like' player

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 15 October 2008 19:59

Opinion and Analysis

SanDisk promises that “consumers can expect additional releases from other artists before the end of the year.”

So, is it a good idea? Well, CDs were a good idea, and not everyone is comfortable in downloading music from iTunes or other online music stores.

Being able to but digital music and instantly play it the cheap as chips SanDisk musicSlot player, or the millions of phones or other mp3 players out there is a good idea.

But good ideas aren’t always popular with consumers, so we’ll just have to see what their reaction is.

Consumers will also need to be aware that the cards are tiny and easy to lose or misplace, if you’re not careful.

All in all, it’s a very interesting development in the world of digital music, and counter intuitive when you consider that downloads are supposed to be the way of the future.

Still, all the major music labels are on board, and SanDisk says that everyone is making money out of the deal, so if it leads to more legal sales of music, then everyone’s a winner.

That includes consumers, especially those for whom an iPod or fiddling with computers is just too much hassle.

Can I see myself buying one of these instead of a CD?

Well, given that the tracks are of higher quality than most digital music downloads, why not?

I guess I’ll wait until they go on sale down under, and before that, whether US consumers snap them up, or spit them out.