General Information

Serial #

A809605

Part Number

1

Total Parts

2

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

SYNTHETIC & METAL COMPONENTS.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

13.7 cm

Width

9.5 cm

Height

3.1 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Sound

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Sony

Country

Japan

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

THIS RECORDER USED C. 1996-2000.

Canada

ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR THE MASS MARKET, MINIDISC HAS BEEN USED AS A PORTABLE PLAYER FOR MUSIC COPIED FROM CDS OR FROM MP3 FILES AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET. THE ARTIFACT, HOWEVER,WAS USED BY CBC RADIO NEWS REPORTERS FOR NEWS GATHERING. IN THE NEWSROOM, THE REPORTER DOWNLOADED FILES TO HIS OR HER COMPUTER WORKSTATION, WHERE THEY COULD BE EDITED FOR NEWSCAST USING "DALET" SOFTWARE AND STORED ON A SERVER FOR DISTRIBUTION OVER A LOCAL AREA NETWORK. THIS ALLOWED THE PRODUCTION OF NEWSCASTS TO BE LARGELY AUTOMATED, WITH REPORTERS AND PRODUCERS USING COMPUTER SOFTWARE TO PERFORM MANY TASKS ONCE DONE BY TECHNICIANS." (Ref. 1)

Function

TO RECORD AUDIO INPUT AS COMPRESSED DIGITAL DATA ON A MAGNETO-OPTICAL DISC.

Technical

INTRODUCED C. 1992, MINIDISC EMPLOYS A MAGNETO-OPTICAL MEDIUM THAT IS RECORDED AND ERASED USING A LASER AND A MAGNETIC HEAD. THE LASER ALTERS THE MAGNETIC COERCITIVITY TO ERASE THE PREVIOUS DATA, ALLOWING THE MAGNETIC HEAD TO THEN IMPART A NEW BIT PATTERN THROUGH POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE POLARIZATION. MINIDISC EMPLOYS DIGITAL COMPRESSION TO REDUCE STORAGE REQUIREMENTS BY A FACTOR OF 5 TO 1. ONE MINIDISC CAN HOLD 74 MINUTES OF SOUND. BY RECORDING ON A DISC, RANDOM ACCESS IS POSSIBLE, MAKING MINIDISC MORE SUITED THAN TAPE TO EDITING ON A COMPUTER WORKSTATION. " (Ref. 1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

.1 "DIGITAL RECORDING/ MD WALKMAN" printed on unit face; "PORTABLE MINIDISC RECORDER MZ-R3" printed on upper edge of display window. All controls, etc. labelled. Decal bearing CBC logo also applied to recorder face. "MD WALKMAN" cast in raised print on casing top. "SONY/ PORTABLE MINIDISC RECORDER MZ-R3/ DC: 4.5V EXTERNAL DC SUPPLY/ BATTERY SUPPLY: 1,5VX2 IEC, JIG LRG SIZE AA OR EQUIV./ SONY CORP. [Japanese characters] MADE IN JAPAN/ US AND FOREIGN PATENTS LICENSED FROM/ DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION/ [Japanese characters]". " THIS CLASS B DIGITAL APPARATUS MEETS ALL/ REQUIREMENTS OF THE CANADIAN INTERFERENCE-/ CAUSING EQUIPMENT REGULATIONS. " printed on decal applied to casing back./ " SERIAL NO./ A809605 " printed on decal inside battery compartment.

Missing

COMPLETE

Finish

MEDIUM GREY FINISH ON CASING FRONT & BACK; SILVER METAL CONTROLS, AND SIDE AND BOTTOM PANELS.

Decoration

N/A