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Big Demand for Digital Music Players
An anonymous reader writes "Market research company IDC is predicting a rosy future for MP3 player sales. They predict that by 2008 it will grow into a $58 billion industry - four times bigger than the US record industry. Also in the news, Sony will finally start making a digital music portable that plays MP3s. Their present players only read their proprietary ATRAC3 format, forcing you to transcode any MP3 files you want to play on them."
And I own one... It's called a CD/MP3 player and you can get one at any Target, Wal-Mart, etc.
They go for less than $50 and they hold as much space as blank CD-Rs you are willing to buy.
Was drunk one night, messing around. On a hunch I popped a CD-R containing MP3's into my DVD player (a nice Panasonic). After a couple of seconds, it displayed the directory structure of the disc, and allowed me to select directories and individual tracks.
I'm sure this is not news to most of you, but it was to me (I got my player as a christmas present, as a refurb without the original packaging).
Mod down people who tell people how to mod in their sigs
Look at these clowns trackrecord for the Itanium
Help fight continental drift.
I personally want to see where portable video players go. I bought an iPod a few weeks ago (20 GB for $300) and saw the small Archos video player this morning. That thing plays music AND DivX AND XVid AND MPEG4 AND has 10 hours of battery life AND is as small as an iPod AND has cool extra geek stuff like a Compact Flash reader and line out. AND it's only $379. I bought one and am thinking of putting my iPod up on eBay.
I forget what the model number is. 4-something I think. 400mini? It should be on their site. The feature list on the thing is freaking amazing.
I probably shouldn't reply to myself, but after digging a little through the Neuros site I found that there is software (written in Perl) that works great on Linux. The software, Sorune (linky), is to manage playlist and such for the Neuros. The CEO of the company also seems committed to open source (not just the firmware, but the specs of the player as well). I will do some more research on this tommorrow, but I think I may have just found my next purchase.
Cheers,the_crowbar
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Well if their MP3 players turn out to be anything like there more recent VCRs then I won't be wasting my money on them.
:-)
I bought a top-of-the-line Sony VHS VCR back in 1991 and it lasted 10 years, giving an exceptional picture and brilliant audio.
The top-of-the-line Sony VHS VCR I bought in 1999 gave nowhere near as good a picture and just died, lasting only half as long as the previous one.
The top-of-the-line Sony VHS VCR I bought in 2000 was even worse in respect to its performance and died back in late 2001 -- lasting less than two years.
The 21" Sony TV I bought back in 1992 is still going strong and gives an excellent picture. The 29" set I bought in 1999 has crapped out twice and the tube is showing pronounced signs of softness. The picture geometry has also gone to hell in a handbasket.
If this trend continues, that Sony MP3 player probably won't make it to the shop doorway before it craps out.
As an electronics tech I took a look at the Sony VCRs and have to say that the standards of design and construction have fallen significantly in the 10 year period from my first to most recent purchase.
I don't buy Sony gear any more -- they used to be a premium brand with excellent quality but now it's actually worse than some of the cheaper stuff on the market. The budget 2-head NEC VCR I bought at the same time as the 2000-model Sony is still going strong.
When it came time to buy a new camcorder, I bought a Panasonic and have been *very* pleased with the results. Even my friends who spent 50% more on a Sony camera are very impressed (and kicking themselves a little
Sony? I don't think so.
There are other reasons to favor the Neuros over the iPod, but those are the big ones.
But, as for everything, personal preferences play a huge role in your selection of a personal music device (PMD).
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.