Oh, poor SanDisk. First, reviewers made fun of your new slotMusic program, which sells physical music on microSD cards, and now Samsung has withdrawn its offer to buy your company for $5.9 billion.
It's like getting dumped the day before prom, even if SanDisk didn't particularly like Samsung's offer in the first place. (It says Samsung undervalued the company, which has taken a beating on Wall Street along with everything else.) Economic conditions could be worsening, and now Samsung says it wants out of the deal. Fair enough.
Don't worry, SanDisk, it'll be okay. Sure, Samsung says it won't pay $26 per share for your company and publications including our sister site Portfolio questioned why SanDisk is even bothering with slotMusic, which could be considered a step backwards in our culture's move towards digital distribution and away from physical media.
Chin up, SanDisk. Someday your prince will come, and slotMusic may not be quite as dumb as some smart people say it is.
SlotMusic might not fly with early, or even some tardy adapters, who would never consider a return to physical media after having experienced the freeing aspects of invisible music (with the possible exception of vinyl).
But it's a big world out there. Anecdotal evidence indicates thatplenty of iPod owners, especially the ones who were given one as agift, neverbother to update the music on them. Tons of folks out there want in ondigital music but never "got" it before. When they see a$20 SanDisk Sansa slotMusic player sitting on an end display inWal-Mart or Best Buy, with 36 slotMusic microSD
card titles in the CD section, they might justtake the plunge.
The screenless slotMusic player (right) lets those without amicroSD-compatible cellphone play these cards, runs on one AA battery,
has a solid build, comes with a tiny dongle for transferring files from computer to the card, and sounds pretty good as I have verified with my own ears and high-quality headphones.
As I write this, I'm using one of these devices to listen to John McCain's favorite song: "Dancing Queen" by Abba with my morning coffee, so I know the sound quality is good, even if the music quality isn't. And this thing requires no wires to use aside from the headphones — exactly the sort of "wirelessness" plenty of people appreciate.
Paying $20 for an MP3 player is not a bad value, especially because SanDiskplans to sell replaceable skins that cover most of the player withimages related to a specific artist. Putting down $35 gets you an artist-branded player plus an album by the featured artist on a 1-GB microSD card.
If you're John McCain and you don't even use e-mail, which are you going to prefer: an iPod thatneeds to be synced and managed on a computer or a magical little cardthat comes with no wires and lets you hear your precious Abba on your cellphone anytime you want, once your assistant fits the fingernail-sized cardinto its slot on your cellphone? Thought so.
Speaking of which, let's not forget that all the music on thoseslotMusic cards can be deleted, or the extra space used forwhatever else you want to view, hear, read, etc. on your cellphone. Paying$15 for 1 GB of cellphone storage plus a 320-Kbps album by an artist youlike isn't a bad deal, no matter what your demographic. As the holidayapproaches during a financial crisis, a $35 player/card combo will belooking like a mighty fine bargain to a wide segment of shoppers.
So don't worry too much, SanDisk. Even if Samsung doesn't want you and some peoplethink you're dim, you've found a new way to enter the musicdistribution business that the major labels and large chains love, andwhich gives you another way to sell your core product. People who lovewell-established artists and shopping at large chains might feel thesame way.
With so many other companies targeting "influencers" andearly adopters, SanDisk might be able turn a forgotten segment of the marketon to digital music while creating a new use for one of its core products.
this audio or video is no longer availableSomeday My Prince Will Come - Miles Davis
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