Over the past three to four years, I’ve always kept an eye on Sony’s MP3 Walkmen players. Though they look cool at times and have some features I’d enjoy (like FM Radio), the fact that they are not OS X-compatible and use the ATRAC file format is what kept myself and possibly you from purchasing one. So it looks like it only took about half a lifetime for Sony to wise up and ditch ATRAC, which it has officially announced today.
Also announced today was the shuttering of Sony’s music store, Connect. Not that it was insanely popular, but now all those ATRAC files you downloaded are about as useful as a bunch of rotten bananas when your Walkman breaks. If you peep this particular message from Sony, you’ll see that they really want you off Connect ASAP. Looks like they’ll even tell you how to convert those ATRAC files to MP3 or WMA. You’re a winner.