Pioneer is ceasing production of their three remaining LaserDisc players, marking the end of major manufacture for players of the giant, shiny, long-obsolete format.
Pioneer had continued to build players long after the format had been declared dead, largely because of the large LD collections that many Japanese customers had built during the years that the format’s popularity soared (comparitively) in that country. Enthusiasts make this story plausible, but the fact that the LD is dead, long live DVD! stories stopped showing up by the year 2000 and the fact that you can still buy a brand-new LD/DVD/CD player on Amazon for about $1000 make it a bit surreal, too.
Anyway, uhh, they’re still available there, while supplies last! [Akihabara]
