Suggestions to MiniDisc Webmasters
Eric Woudenberg
Oct 17, 1999
I am quite delighted by the growth of MiniDisc information on the
Web. Today an Altavista search on the word "minidisc" finds nearly
100,000 matching pages! This is quite a change from those days in 1995
when one person, alone, had the possibility of visiting nearly
every MD page on the Web.
Offer to Host Retired Content
I would like to make two suggestions to webmasters who are maintaining
MD information on the Web. One springs from the disappointing
observation that MD pages with good and helpful content are
occasionally disappearing. This is to be expected afterall, the
Web is underpinned by a plethora of running computers. Web
sites go down, people move on, the Net is constantly in flux. For this
reason, I would like to offer a final resting place under Minidisc.org
for those who wish to retire their MD related Web pages. I ask that
pages placed here be ``finished'', i.e. not in a state of update,
since taking in updates from outside could quickly become
overwhelming. My hope in doing this is to prevent the loss of hard won
information. Please feel free to contact me about MD pages you
are no longer able to host.
Need for Diversification
My other suggestion relates to an avenue of approach for new MD
webmasters. It seems every few weeks a new ``MiniDisc Page'' pops up
on the Web, appearing to be a general purpose page for the
format. While I applaud the MD enthusiasm that this reveals, I feel
that as a community of webmasters, we could make more effective use of
our effort. My recommendation for those wishing to make a frequently
visited MD site is to focus on a specific area of MiniDiscdom. If you
can do this well, and update it consistently over the long haul, you
will be providing a valuable and helpful service to the MD community.
There are several areas that the MDCP does not cover well, and I think anyone
doing a good job covering them would earn a prominent link on the MDCP. Some of the
topics I would love to see someone ``own'' are:
- Links to MD Manufacturers How about a site (or page)
devoted just to links to the main MD pages for all the MD
manufacturers (including their non-English pages)?
- Recording Mp3 (and other net audio) to MD It would be
wonderful to have one site devoted to detailed coverage of this
important topic, including soundcards, player software, tips and
techniques and a FAQ. I know this is an arduous task, due to the
constant evolution of player software and soundcard hardware, but it
is a topic that will grow in importance with the rise of Internet
audio.
- Car MD Players As any car audio freak will tell you, car_table.html is woefully incomplete. Car audio is
somehow not an area of Minidiscdom that I find particularly
fascinating. As far as I am concerned (cost and reliability questions
aside) Sony's MDX-U1, their
initial, basic, ATRAC-1 car MD player, essentially solved the car MD
problem. As you can judge by this comment, a page maintained by a car audio fan would
be a welcome addition. My suggestion would be to host and update
car_table.html on your own server, whilst a batch job on the MDCP
integrates your changes into the equipment browser.
- The Repair Page Wouldn't it be great to have a listing of
the MD repair centers for every manufacturer? This is a low
maintenance site that MD users in need would love to have.
- MD for use in Journalism A reporter writes: May I
suggest that another needed MiniDisc site/page is for the use of MiniDisc
by journalists. I'm a radio reporter who has used MD for a couple of
years, and I gag at the thought of ever going back to cassette. But
journalists have special needs that the usual music user doesn't need
be concerned about, e.g. date/time stamp is highly desireable, so is
high-speed playback. A page or site devoted to the use of MD in
journalism would be welcome!
- Other Cool Pages There are plenty of MD niches I
haven't even considered. Discover one and detail it well and I'll be
happy to add a prominent link to it!
Please bear in mind that these are only my suggestions, if you have
bigger plans and want to create the next, major, MiniDisc Page, please
do not let these ideas stand in your way.