Vintage Blank Media

Here’s one from the vaults. These are the HiSpace iMac blank minidiscs, produced between 2000 and 2001. With the exception of TDK, they were the only company making interesting blank media at that point. I have no idea what relation these have to the Apple computer of the same name, which was introduced two years earlier.

As of 2003, the HiSpace brand has ceased to exist, though parent company MPO still operates out of France.

They made a series of custom discs for Minidisco (who sadly sell very few minidisc-related products now) with a neat cartoon robot motif, and I’m still searching for a set of their Tribal series discs.

Unfortunately, their quality control was woefully inconsistent, and out of all the years I’ve been using the format, theirs are the only discs that sputtered out and died on me. Still, I admire the aesthetics, and I wish more manufacturers would take heed. Design matters, even on seemingly insignificant things.