The text at the bottom of the advertisement reads:
SONY
Sony Electronics Inc.
1 Sony Drive, Park Ridge, NJ 07656
©1993 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Features and specifications subject to change without notice. Sony, MD Walkman, The Ultimate Cassette, UniLink and the MiniDisc logo are trademarks of Sony.
MiniDisc products incorporate Serial Copy Management System, which will not prevent you from making a direct digital-to-digital copy from a digital source, but will prevent a second direct digital-to-digital copy from being made. Product available early 1994.
For your complete personal guide to all Sony consumer electronics, we’re introducing Sony Style magazine. To receive your copy for $4.95, plus $1.50 shipping and handling, call 1-800-848-SONY. Visa and MC. Offer expires 4/94.
A few interesting details:
This is a 1993 Sony MiniDisc advertisement promoting the format just before its wider U.S. rollout in 1994.
Sony was positioning MiniDisc as a successor to cassette technology, hence the trademark phrase “The Ultimate Cassette.”
The mention of SCMS (Serial Copy Management System) reflects the early-1990s music industry’s concern about digital copying.
The ad says the product would be available in early 1994, which helps date the ad very precisely to late 1993.
This is one of Sony’s early minimalist MiniDisc ads, emphasizing the small size of the disc rather than showing a player or recorder.
