National / International News

Remember the MiniDisc? Way better than a cassette. In the 1990s, Sony once hyped its format with ads starring supermodel Claudia Shiffer.

Video of Claudia Schiffer in a bar: Jon Lovitz prank

 

The MiniDisc is a little optical disc in a cartridge the size of a thin pad of Post-it Notes. Sony has announced it is killing off the format this month.

"I think I was actually pretty close to the target, I was about 13 at the time," says Seth Fiegerman, writer for the website Mashable, who bought into the MiniDisc craze as an impressionable youth.  

According to Michael Bierylo, Chair of the Electronics Production and Design Department at the Berklee College of Music, the MiniDisc was engineered to make imperfect copies in an effort to curb music piracy.

But the loss of the format makes life tough for musicians.

"A lot of the things I did in the 90s on a computer, the software that was used to make the production, the companies are no longer in business and modern computers won't run the software," says Bierylo.

Bierylo, who has boxes of old floppy disks from the 90s, says he jokes with his wife that he'd like to mount a exhibit of obsolete formats, like the consumer electronics version of the Island of Misfit Toys.

To hear more about the origin of the MiniDisc, click on the audio player above.

 

Controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez died yesterday, leaving the nation – and the world – to reflect on his legacy. Both critics and supporters of Chavez agree that he has changed the role of the poor in Venezuela. But how will Chavez's passing affect the economies of other countries in Latin America?

Stephen Keppel, economics editor for Univision News, joins Marketplace Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson to discuss Chavez's economic and political legacy abroad.

David Cameron defends the government's opposition to EU plans for a bankers' bonus cap.

The UK's top payday loan companies are given 12 weeks to change their behaviour after a study finds evidence of "widespread irresponsible lending".

Winter storm Saturn, which has already left Chicago digging out from 10 inches, is expected to dump more snow on Maryland and Virginia.

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Using fences to separate lions from humans could help to save them from extinction, a report suggests.

News photos over 24 hours: 6 March

The majority of Dreams beds stores have been bought by Sun European Partners, saving 1,600 jobs a day after the company went into administration.

Counting of Kenyan election results slows down because of problems with electronic systems being used in the polls for the first time.

Bridget Harris tells 5 live how Liberal Democrat chief executive Lord Rennard acted inappropriately towards her.

Two men from Londonderry are refused bail as they appear in court charged in connection with the discovery of four mortar bombs and a pipe bomb in the city.

A pure gold replica of Lionel Messi's left foot valued at £3.5m is unveiled in Tokyo ahead of its sale to raise funds for charity.

Average childcare costs across England, Scotland and Wales rose by £5 a week (or 6%) per child last year, according to the Daycare Trust's annual survey.

Also: The influence of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables on Hugo Chavez; Jeb Bush's new book on immigration; and a 9-year-old saves himself and friends from quicksand after reading a survival guide.

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Travel group Thomas Cook announces it will cut 2,500 jobs in the UK and close some stores as it attempts to revive its profitability.

Two car thefts, one in the U.S. and one in China, have transfixed many in China. In both cases, babies were in the vehicles. The American case ended happily when the thief phoned police to tell them where to find the child. In China, the suspect has confessed to killing little Haobo.

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A snowstorm that has dumped up to 12in (30cm) on parts the US Midwest, causing 1,100 cancelled flights

Sam Warburton says his focus is on beating Scotland and not regaining the Wales captaincy.

Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King says there is a case for splitting up state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland.

The EU's competition regulator fines Microsoft 561m euros ($731m; £484m) after it failed to keep a promise to promote a choice of rival web browsers.