Tick This One

Why have portable MP3 players not become a consumer success as yet, despite the promise of vast amounts of free music accessible over the ne...

AMONGST the first few portable MP3 players to arrive was the Diamond from a company called Rio. This was around 1988, when the Internet was starting to peak. The Diamond cost roughly the equivalent of Rs 15,000, could store around an hour of digital quality music on 32 MB of memory, wasthe size of a cigarette box, weighed roughly as much, provided skip-free sound and could be upgraded to 64 MB. It was also cute, with its black and chrome finish and a digital display, it looked like a gizmo of the future.

The trouble was with its battery life and the interface. The Diamond was power-hungry and its interface ensured that the player switched on at the slightest touch. Often, it would accidentally begin to play even while you thought it was safely stored in your drawer. People who loved USB ports and wanted to experiment with bit rates loved the Diamond player and forgave Rio its flaws. Others, who simply wanted their music, ignored it. The Diamond never made it to the big league. Many other companies have begun to manufacture portable MP3 players — among them, Phillips, RCA and Samsung — but without much success.

Why have portable MP3 players not become a consumer success as yet, despite the promise of vast amounts of free music accessible over the net? The answer is two-fold. First is the fact that MP3 players are not cheap by any standards. And they continue to work in tandem with expensive computers. The second problem is that converting your CDs into MP3 or downloading MP3 from the net and transferring it to your player is not as simple as it sounds or as easy as the user manual tries to make it seem.

But for those who truly want their MP3, Casio has a neat option. The company makes a watch that is also an MP3 player. You can find it at Casio stores and a few music stores across the country. It straps to your wrist, is much smaller than the Diamond and looks and works way cooler than other portable MP3 players in the market. Additionally, the entire watch is rechargeable, so usage cost is practically nil. Check it out: this gizmo really ticks.

(The author is Station Director, Radio City, 91 FM, Bangalore)

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