Thursday, March 30, 2006
UMD near death -- really?
It only took a year; however, it looks like Sony is finally willing to admit that *another* proprietary format they came up with is dead.
Unfortunately, Sony still appears to be in denial about the cause of death. They cite the PSP's inability to be connected to a TV. Really? That's the reason? I thought it was the fact that no one wants to adopt yet another proprietary Sony format. I'm sure the higher price, lower resolution (so you wouldn't want to connect it to a big screen), no extra features and the inability to write your own files to blank media didn't help either.
According to this article, retailers and studios are ready to drop the format altogether. So even if Sony allows you to hook the PSP to a TV, you won't have much to watch.
I am waiting for someone to build an open portable platform that allows you to connect it to your existing devices and existing media formats. The rumored Microsoft portable would be perfect (for me, anyway). I could use my XBOX 360 and my Media Center PC to share media with the device. Maybe then, Sony would realize that we don't need any more Memory Sticks or Mini Discs or UMDs.
It only took a year; however, it looks like Sony is finally willing to admit that *another* proprietary format they came up with is dead.
Unfortunately, Sony still appears to be in denial about the cause of death. They cite the PSP's inability to be connected to a TV. Really? That's the reason? I thought it was the fact that no one wants to adopt yet another proprietary Sony format. I'm sure the higher price, lower resolution (so you wouldn't want to connect it to a big screen), no extra features and the inability to write your own files to blank media didn't help either.
According to this article, retailers and studios are ready to drop the format altogether. So even if Sony allows you to hook the PSP to a TV, you won't have much to watch.
I am waiting for someone to build an open portable platform that allows you to connect it to your existing devices and existing media formats. The rumored Microsoft portable would be perfect (for me, anyway). I could use my XBOX 360 and my Media Center PC to share media with the device. Maybe then, Sony would realize that we don't need any more Memory Sticks or Mini Discs or UMDs.
¶ 1:38 PM 
About Shawn Morton
Experienced web product manager, social media strategist, professional blogger and speaker, startup entrepreneur & father of 4.
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