OTHER TECH

On the other hand, most DVD-Audio releases will still retain multichannel-playback capability from even HD DVD and Blu-ray players, even if the audio comes from their Dolby Digital or DTS soundtracks.

As another song goes, "All things must pass." And so it is with these digital media, and even with their replacements. A recent survey by cellphone giant Nokia indicates that MP3 players might go the way of DCC. Most (67%) of the people Nokia queried said that they expect the music-playback function central to the success of the iPod to be taken over by - you guessed it - cellphones.

The Nokia survey further implies that cellphones will take over the picture-taking functions of separate digital cameras, which themselves have pretty much killed off film photography. Konica/Minolta has already shut down all camera production and transferred its lens technology to Sony.

At one time or another, I've greatly enjoyed my Minolta Maxxum camera (long replaced by a Sony 5-megapixel digital camera) as well as the DAT, MD, and SACD audio formats. The ideal word to describe my feelings toward all these media - a word conveying both goodbye and the thanks-for-the-memories spirit of Bob Hope's theme song - is from my home state of Hawaii. So, let's all bid aloha! to film cameras, to DAT, DCC, and MD, and - as the players die off - even to SACD ... as they ascend to that high-tech Valhalla where the image quality is perfect, the audio noise level is zero, and the frequency response extends to infinity.

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