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I am a DJ who has used Minidiscs now for nearly six years. I am so amazed at the MD format, I simply have to share this story.
Recently my car was flooded by rising lake waters after a torrential rain. Unfortunately, at the time that I abandoned the automobile, I forgot I had left my collection of MD's in a carrying case in the back-seat. (In a panic these things happen.) When I returned to the scene the next day, the car was 100 feet from shore with the roof barely visible. The dirty flood waters had nearly completely covered it and flooded the inside.
There was no easy way to recover the car or the contents. It took about two weeks for the flood waters to recede and the ground to dry enough to get a front loader to the car and pull it out. With dried mud, branches and more inside and outside the vehicle, I was certain the Minidiscs had been ruined. I opened the case. Dirty water spilled out and I retrieved the discs. I wiped them off and allowed them to dry for three days. Unable to open the shutters (I'm still not sure how to do that), this was the best I could do.
I tested each disc and out of over 2500 songs, LESS THAN 75 MISTRACKED! The great flood of 2001 became the great flood of relief and joy to the durability of the incredible Minidisc! By the way, I still play those 2425 some odd tracks and they sound as pristine as ever!
Scott
Lake Hudson (5.5 inches of rain ~ Salina, OK - Feb 24, 2001)
I noticed in Scott's flood story that he was unable to open the shutters of his MD's. There is an easy way to do this that I would like to share.
Examine the edge of the MD (the side with the shutter). You will see a groove extending from the shutter to the right edge of the disc. Look closely in that groove and you will see a small latch (in my MDs it is white - it is easily seen in the clear color discs). All you have to do is press this latch down using a bent paperclip or staple, and the shutter will slide open. To replace the shutter, simply slide it back into position until you hear a click. I have done this many times to many discs without data loss. Hope this helps. -Simon Lai
EAW adds: Someone long ago on MD-L gave me a cool tip: you can use the edge of the MD's outer jacket as the ``pick'' to open the shutter. The bottom edge of the plastic jacket fits nicely into the release slot on the side of the MD (just above the shutter). So, with jacket type MDs you always have a pick handy!