SanDisk's slotMusic Enters the Ring

Today SanDisk made a decidedly old-school announcement: a new medium for music. Yes, that's medium as in "tangible product that you buy at the store." The initiative, called slotMusic, will put complete albums on microSD cards, the cell-phone memory cards that are about half the size of a postage stamp. The cards, which also come with USB adapters for use with computers, will be available later this year at stores including Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

While the tech-geek community was quick to dismiss the new format as dead on arrival, others are taking a tone of bemused optimism.

The Silicon Alley Insider declared slotMusic "not the worst idea ever," especially since the cards could be bundled with phones. The New York Times' Saul Hansell points out that songs on microSD have a few advantages: no digital rights management (DRM) restrictions and higher sound quality than the typical download.

But Kevin Maney at Portfolio may have the most astute take of all: He speculates that slotMusic is aimed at older buyers who are more comfortable with tangible technology -- and who tend to spend the most money on music. Sometimes, it doesn't pay to go where the kids are -- it pays to go where the money is.