Minidisc was where the fun was, it sounded good and the Walkmen were small. I loved that you could edit the md. Which meant if you recorded off the radio, you could instantly have your favorite song on repeat (with DJs talking over the song of course, but it beat waiting weeks before something would be available) - never got a DAT deck because MD was so much more convenient. And then MP3 players came - those with Rockbox were peak fun.
If Sony mastered interface, a GUI for music rearrangement, they could have stopped the iPod and iTunes in its tracks. Apple took away some of the freedom that managing discs and tapes gave, with the upshot of a proper visual interface.
