The target market for these cards is Grandma who can barely work her VCR (remember those?).

She wants to buy her grandson the latest album (remember those?) of whatever garbage those kids are listening to now, but little Johnny doesn't even listen to these CD thingamabobs anymore. Ah, but if she buys him this card, he gets the music, and she doesn't have to fuss with any of those electrical gizmos that confuse her.

In that sense, it's a great idea. What Sony needs to concentrate on is the marketing venues. Best Buy is a dog for this, but Winn-Dixie is brilliant. Placement in venues that traditionally haven't carried music (either due to space constraints or being outside their normal inventory scope) whose customer base skews older and less technical is the key.

So poohpooh it all you want, but you know damn well that if Grannie gave you one of these of an artist you like, you'd get all warm and fuzzy inside. You even might think of showing her how to set the VCR to tape her beloved Andy Griffith reruns.

I don't trust Sony after the DRM mess either.

And what is the point of buying a card in a store only to go online and download it?

I'm bucking the trend by still buying CDs.

At least it's harder to loose them compared to a hard disk crash or accidentally deleting the MP3s.

MP3s are no more perishable then vinyl and cds. In fact they are probably easier to care for and maintain. So i don't see how your point is valid unless you are only talking about the temporary subsciption based access to music.

Why would I buy a Bob Dylan album in digital format, for a friend, when I can purchase a iTunes card that willow allow this friend to choose the album they want?

Seriously, people who run corporations (CEOs) are morons.

You should thank Shawn Fanning with providing a means to get the music you REALLY want. You do not to be stuck to one continent, one thought, one model...ask people who care about the music and simply share.

You are about the Blu-Ray though.

The industry is dead. It started with the first million-selling CD. That started a manifestation of greed that no industry could sustain. Then, when the opportunity was theirs for the taking – with Napster, all of us downloading Americans and our money – at the table, the labels gave US the finger. We've been giving it back, ever since. Go Google "slumping CD sales," and see what you get.

The music "business" is dead and this comes from an insider, who's been in the business for twenty years. This is just an attempt to get you back out into a store – something to go, hey, I'll buy this while I'm waiting in line. It's stupid, and it won't last.

Don't give up. Don't trust The Man, and for God's sakes, pull up your pants.

Focus. You should be thanking Shawn Fanning, not Sony.

And Sony only 'won' the latest format war because they own Sony Pictures, not because the Blu-Ray format is 'better'.