You see them everywhere: on public transit, on the streets, at the gym, you name it. These devices allow you to carry hundreds of songs in your pocket at once, reducing the need to carry CD players around. If you said ‘mp3 player’, you would be correct. We might be using them often, but how often do we consider the past of these iconic devices and how they helped shape the market to the way it is today? Many early players have established some degree of success but few had been able to match the influence of Apple’s iPod, which helped launch a new market and stake a role for the mp3 player in our society.
The first mp3 player was the Eiger MPMan F10, released in May 1998 at a price of $250. It contained 32MB of internal memory, but had no options for external storage. However, customers could upgrade the internal memory to 64MB by sending the player to the manufacturer along with $69. Later in the same year, Diamond Multimedia entered the newly emerging market with the Rio PMP300. Like the MPMan, the device had 32MB of storage but also included a SmartMedia slot for external expansion. Shortly after its introduction, the Recording Industry Association of America filed an application to block the player’s sales, claiming that it encouraged users to share unauthorized copies of artists’ work. The application was later declined however, and the Rio became a massive success.
After the Rio’s success, many companies began to enter the market as well. Creative Technology debuted in June 1999 with the Nomad, which was actually a rebranded Samsung player. The company followed up with the Nomad Jukebox in 2001, sporting a 6GB hard drive and a $500 price tag. Despite its cost and size, the device sold well. This year was also notable for the introduction of the first iPod by Apple Inc. on October 23rd, 2001. Carrying a 5GB capacity, it was marketed with the slogan “1000 songs in your pocket.” The device was only compatible with Mac at first but Windows compatibility was added in the second generation, released the following year. The iPod line eventually became the most successful product in the mp3 player market due to its ease of use and its attractive size/storage design, with over 300 million units sold as of October 2011. With enough proof that a potential source of revenue existed in these players, Samsung, Cowon, Sony, iriver, Microsoft, and other companies immersed themselves in the market as it matured further to what it has become today.
Trends and Development
We’ve come a long way from the bulky, expensive players produced nearly fifteen years ago. Back then, 32MB was considered a large amount of storage; today we can obtain players with 32GB or more- a capacity over a thousand times larger. Over the years, there have been some major developments that propelled the market forward. Here are a few:
Moving from hard drives to flash memory: In the market’s infancy, consumers had to choose between a compact but storage limited flash-based device or a bulky but spacious hard drive-based device. With advancements in flash memory capacities and a drop in prices, there’s no longer a need to choose between the two. Flash memory is now capable of providing enough storage for the average user and consequently fewer devices with hard drives are being produced. Most models also offer some sort of memory expansion, allowing virtually unlimited storage. In addition, the move to flash memory has resulted in smaller, thinner, and more durable devices, as hard drives were vulnerable to wear and tear.
Touch screens/interfaces: Some companies are offering players controlled by a touch screen instead of the traditional tactile buttons. These interfaces introduced a new way of interacting with devices, opening up some creative designs. Unlike the overwhelming move to flash memory however, touch interfaces have not replaced tactile buttons to the same extent; each approach has pros and cons. Touch interfaces allows for larger screen sizes since there is no need to reserve space on the player for physical buttons, but make blind operation (i.e. in a pocket) difficult. Conversely, tactile buttons allow easier blind operation due to the physical feedback and the ability to remember the button’s location, but require a lot of space on the player to implement.
Diversification of features: The first devices were focused solely on playing music and nothing more. As the years passed video playback, voice recording, FM radio, Wi-Fi and online connectivity were added, allowing mp3 players to become versatile gadgets.
Although audio playback is now a function on many other devices, the mp3 player still has an important role in our lifestyles. Companies are still introducing new models and new features are always being added. As we enter another year of players, it will be interesting to see what manufacturers can come up with.
You see them everywhere: on public transit, on the streets, at the gym, you name it. These devices allow you to carry hundreds of songs in your pocket at once, reducing the need to carry CD players around. If you said ‘mp3 player’, you would be correct. We might be using them often, but how often do we consider the past of these iconic devices and how they helped shape the market to the way it is today? Many early players have established some degree of success but few had been able to match the influence of Apple’s iPod, which helped launch a new market and stake a role for the mp3 player in our society.The first mp3 player was the Eiger MPMan F10, released in May 1998 at a price of $250. It contained 32MB of internal memory, but had no options for external storage. However, customers could upgrade the internal memory to 64MB by sending the player to the manufacturer along with $69. Later in the same year, Diamond Multimedia entered the newly emerging market with the Rio PMP300. Like the MPMan, the device had 32MB of storage but also included a SmartMedia slot for external expansion. Shortly after its introduction, the Recording Industry Association of America filed an application to block the player’s sales, claiming that it encouraged users to share unauthorized copies of artists’ work. The application was later declined however, and the Rio became a massive success.After the Rio’s success, many companies began to enter the market as well. Creative Technology debuted in June 1999 with the Nomad, which was actually a rebranded Samsung player. The company followed up with the Nomad Jukebox in 2001, sporting a 6GB hard drive and a $500 price tag. Despite its cost and size, the device sold well. This year was also notable for the introduction of the first iPod by Apple Inc. on October 23rd, 2001. Carrying a 5GB capacity, it was marketed with the slogan “1000 songs in your pocket.” The device was only compatible with Mac at first but Windows compatibility was added in the second generation, released the following year. The iPod line eventually became the most successful product in the mp3 player market due to its ease of use and its attractive size/storage design, with over 300 million units sold as of October 2011. With enough proof that a potential source of revenue existed in these players, Samsung, Cowon, Sony, iriver, Microsoft, and other companies immersed themselves in the market as it matured further to what it has become today.Trends and DevelopmentsWe’ve come a long way from the bulky, expensive players produced nearly fifteen years ago. Back then, 32MB was considered a large amount of storage; today we can obtain players with 32GB or more- a capacity over a thousand times larger. Over the years, there have been some major developments that propelled the market forward. Here are a few:Moving from hard drives to flash memory: In the market’s infancy, consumers had to choose between a compact but storage limited flash-based device or a bulky but spacious hard drive-based device. With advancements in flash memory capacities and a drop in prices, there’s no longer a need to choose between the two. Flash memory is now capable of providing enough storage for the average user and consequently fewer devices with hard drives are being produced. Most models also offer some sort of memory expansion, allowing virtually unlimited storage. In addition, the move to flash memory has resulted in smaller, thinner, and more durable devices, as hard drives were vulnerable to wear and tear.Touch screens/interfaces: Some companies are offering players controlled by a touch screen instead of the traditional tactile buttons. These interfaces introduced a new way of interacting with devices, opening up some creative designs. Unlike the overwhelming move to flash memory however, touch interfaces have not replaced tactile buttons to the same extent; each approach has pros and cons. Touch interfaces allows for larger screen sizes since there is no need to reserve space on the player for physical buttons, but make blind operation (i.e. in a pocket) difficult. Conversely, tactile buttons allow easier blind operation due to the physical feedback and the ability to remember the button’s location, but require a lot of space on the player to implement.Diversification of features: The first devices were focused solely on playing music and nothing more. As the years passed video playback, voice recording, FM radio, Wi-Fi and online connectivity were added, allowing mp3 players to become versatile gadgets.Although audio playback is now a function on many other devices, the mp3 player still has an important role in our lifestyles. Companies are still introducing new models and new features are always being added. As we enter another year of players, it will be interesting to see what manufacturers can come up with.
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