The minidisc was for many things right for portable music. The audio quality was great, indistinguishable from CD to me, and any minor detail gets washed out when riding on the train or walking on a street. CDs are great but not a portable media. They scratch, break etc. It can be hard to load a new disc when standing it in crowded places. Portable CD players were awful at skipping. The couple seconds buffer was fine for a small bump but that was it. MDs were bulletproof.