So what's the difference between a "SlotMusic" micros SD card and ...errr ....a "normal" micros SD card?

If there is no difference, then this is just another silly marketing thing - they didn't have to come up with a new name for it, for goodness sake.

If there IS a difference then "oh great! ANOTHER flash card format - just what we need"

Too late. This would almost have made sense 8 years ago. Or 4 years ago if MicroSd slots were a standard in every MP3 player. ISTR suggesting that MP3 players should have no on board memory but have a memory slot like cameras, but it was an idea that never happened.

But frankly actually buying music is just *so* last century.

You meant ShitMusic right? Since that's what it tends to be. Also the idea is more or less

dead from the start. Reason... most people have things on their phone sd cards that they kinda want around even while playing music. The only thing I see here is that you actually buy a sd card because you need it and get the music along the way.

What I want to know is when we are going to move away from FAT as the default format for portable flash. Having a better file system would improve reliability.

So, SlotMusic ... abbreviated (as in the photo) to SM. Umm, that's Smart Media, right? I know there's quite a few flash formats around, but surely not 26 x 26 = 676, in order to justify repetition if really only allowed two letters to play with.

I think it's a great idea. My cars have stereos with SD slots in them, and I like the idea of being able to buy albums on SD, keep them in the car and play them just by slotting it in the SD slot.

I'm one of those old fashioned types that actually likes to own thier music. If I hear something l like, I will buy the CD. This is because (and I'm sure it's an age thing) I am very proud of my large CD collection. It's a talking point when visitors come 'round. "Ooh haven't you got a big one" etc...

Trouble is, I'm also lazy... So, copying various CDs to SD so I can listen to them in the car is a pain in the arse... If I could go and buy an album on SD for a tenner, that would be great; chuck it the car and leave it there.

I hope the first one they release is Brothers in Arms ;-)

(Giving my age away)

Sandisk recently started offering WORM versions of SD cards designed to be a format for archiving that would last a long time, many times longer than data written to an ordinary flash device, but be read only. Are they using the same tech here? It could mean a format that is much more hardy than the CD and the cassette ever were.

Seems like another plan thats doomed from the start...

On the other hand, with something as small as a micro SD, they could fit a whole recordstore in a vending machine and put them on every streetcorner. But I guess that would lead to a whole new form of music piracy, when people start stealing the vending machines...

I guess the success depends on pricing, at 5 euro per card and if the right obscure bands I listen to are available, I'd buy one from time to time...