A new technological blunder was unveiled recently when the SanDisk company announced the launch of the Slot-Music Card. A microSD storage card which will come pre-loaded with an album of mp3 files, cover art and liner notes from artists from Universal, Sony, EMI and Warner Music.
The cards will be carried in a variety of major retailers including Best Buy and Wal-Mart and playable in microSD enabled cell phones and mp3 players.
My first thought on this news was “Gee whiz, this is a big announcement!”
Unfortunately, I had a second thought and it went something like “I can think of no rational reason for a consumer to purchase this item.”
I have a microSD card in my Blackberry. It’s ridiculously small. I’m pretty sure if I ever needed to load it into a more common SD card reader like a computer or mp3 player I would have to put it into one of the two (or maybe both) adapters that came with the card. Obviously, this has never been much of a concern because I’ve kept the same 2 GB card inside the phone since I got it and am able to transfer files back and forth through the magic of a USB cable.
By no means do I have a desire to stockpile these little cards or have to switch them out every time I want to change the music I’m listening to. Currently, thanks to the brilliant technology of the SanDisk company, I don’t have to because I can download an album of mp3 files, cover art and liner notes from multiple artists and store them on my microSD card.
I probably shouldn’t call this a technological blunder, because there’s really no new technology involved. This is basically an artist-branded SD card or the same thing that’s on the shelf right now at Best Buy or Wal-Mart, but will have your favorite artists image decorating the packaging instead of the not-so-sexy SanDisk logo.
The major labels are now hedging their bets on selling a storage card for use in devices purchased solely for their storage capacity. Why would someone that just purchased a 16 GB mp3 player want to spend more money for a little card they have to insert into the mp3 player instead of downloading the music and storing it on the mp3 player itself? Isn’t that a little bit contradictory? Is there a large consumer demand for liner notes I’m unaware of?
This thing makes the laser disc look good.
To top it off, SanDisk announced they’re hoping to have the Slot-Music Card on store shelves in time for the holidays and hope to have a whopping 29 albums available for sale.
These labels would have a better shot trying to sell vinyl.
DandyID
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Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Chris Moran
Actually, you are not the type of person the SlotMusic player and cards are marketed for.. some people cannot afford the more expensive iPod and iTunes, and prefer a more affordable player that still provides high quality music, and portability. Other people who might enjoy the MicroSD player are those who don't have the time, or knowledge to create playlists, and sync up their iPod or Zune.
I understand your point of view, but feel your assessment of the new Sansa product as rather one-sided.
Do you really believe this or would you happen to work for the SanDisk company? I stand by my opinion. This thing has no value to anyone in ANY demographic.
I do believe this, and no, I do not work for SanDisk. I am a clinical nurse. I have owned 2 iPod products, and find them a hassle to use. I like the concept, but I don't have hours to sit at a computer to download songs. If I purchase a album then I want to be able to access that album at my own discression, and to share it with other users if I choose to do so. With my SanDisk player, when I buy the music, it's mine. I can let my son use it if I want to. With our iPods, sharing music was not a possibility.