امروزه همه ی ما از MP3 ها استفاده میکنیم. iPod ها همه جا حاضرند، تلفن های همراه میتوانند این فرمت را اجرا کنند، حتی پخش های جدید اتوموبیل ها نیز فرمت را پشتیبای میکنند. ولی این قضیه همیشه به این شکل نبوده است، به سال 1998 برمیگردیم، سایت های بسیار غیر قانونی ای همچون Audiofind آهنگ های هنرمندان را به صورت کاملا آزادانه و گسترده ای در فرمت های واقعا ضعیف 112 و 128 کیلوبایت در ثانیه ارائه میدادند و ما با مودم های 56K خود گاها وقتی بالغ بر نیم ساعت برای دانلود آنها میگذاشتیم.
شما آهنگ ها را بر کامپیوتر خود اجرا میکردید و یا حتی آنها را به  CD انتقال میدادی و مهم نبود که اولا مبلغی مثلا پوند را برای یک CD خام بپردازید و یا اینکه 30 دقیقه وقت برای رایت یک CD وقت بگذارید در حالی که کمی هم دعا می خواندید تا CD شما نسوزد.
به هر حال، MPMan F10 دویست و پنجاه دلاری آمد و همه چیز را عوض کرد. با یک پک سرمست کننده ی 32 مگلابایت و با اظهار سپاسگزاری، قبلیت ارتقا به 64 مگابایت. مدتی بعد از ارائه ی Napster .MPMan به میان آمد و به ما کمک کرد تا فایل های موسیقی خود را بتوانیم به اشتراک بگذاریم و سازمان دهی کنیم. فرستادن آن فایل ها به دستگاه با استفاده از پورت سریال  یک فرآیند آرام و دردناک بود، ولی مهم نبود. کمتر کسی می دانست که 10 سال بعد حتی مادر بزرگ ها و پدر بزرگ ها هم موسیقی خود را از اینترنت دانلود میکنند و انسانی میتواند در خیابان صد ها گیگابات موسیقی باکیفیت بالا را با خود حمل کند.

منبع:

Retro Computing Corner: The World’s First MP3 Player c. 1998

رضا

The first MP3 player ever released in the world was the dubious MPMan in Asia. Back in 1998, a whole decade ago, geeks with MP3 song files could finally trundle around with all their music in their pocket. Apple's iPod didn't hit the market until 2001 when their first harddrive equipped version was released. And then the whole world started to take notice of MP3 players. How was it so different? It plays songs right? Like all the others? 

Well Apple simply designed something that was undeniably sexy compared to every other device on the market. Its utalitarian approach to aesthetics give it the warm fuzzy feeling girls get from a free manicure. But it was too early at this point for Joe Blogs and his brothers to buy, but this didn't stop them lusting over it! In fact, 96% of the market couldn't even use it if they wanted with it being a Mac only device. They redefined the interface to make it as easy as possible to use what was considered at the time a complex gadget for geeks. 

It took a few years for Apple to get around to making it PC compatible. But it was worth the wait. Developing the iTunes store and moving over to USB 2.0 connections all played their part in making the iPod the goliath that it is today. Apple's ability to maintain refinement of their products on a yearly basis puts them in a powerful position. The competition is always targetting a product that Apple has already begun phasing out. Sometimes its incredibly dramatic. 

Remember the iPod mini? Little bit of a hit that one. It was the new itPod. And so, Sony, Samsung, Microsoft and many others all set about making their very own iPod mini. Apple already has a massive market share, and the mini was just claiming even more of it. The competition had to act fast. Sleeker more compelling players were being released weekly to mixed reviews. They couldn't quite get it right...

And then Apple announce that there is no more iPod mini. Mini is too big. It has to be smaller. iPod miniscule? Nope - the nano was born. The entire MP3/Technology industry shits itself. Apple were incredibly shrewed at this point. They practically abused their dominant position to start literally buying up all the Flash memory that they could at ridiculously low prices. This led to smaller, cheaper and higher capacity models. I predict Apple will be buying about 1/2 of the worlds flash memory chips in future to power all their innovate portable devices. They've started with the 'Air', tablets are on the way, iPhones will be doubling in size every 6 months... I can't see any other result.

Microsoft is the only company that's ever really going to be able to compete with Apple at this level. They're the only one with the wads of cash to throw at it. The Zune was a prime example of them just not getting things right. For a start - you want to compete with the hippest product on the planet and you decide BROWN is the best colour to offer? I have never even seen the Zune in the flesh. It's a joke. Just last week the official saddo evangelist for the Zune; the infamous Zuneguy who had the Zune logo tattoos on his body, slagged off the Zune. He's disgusted with the rate of development and the change in product strategy. Its only been a few years for the Zune, but sales have been dismal at best. 

I think the Zune is going to be a case study for every other major phone manufacturer out there. All massive organisations used to developing electronic devices, with huge R&D departments and years of experience. 

The day the iPhone was announced was an eye-opener even for me. I'm a huge Apple fan and have followed their progression for the last 6 years. I thought I could almost predict what they're next products would be like. When the iPhone first appeared, I was god-smacked. It was easily the coolest tech device in existence, but a factor of 2. That's a massive achievement. With its release I think it was almost the beginning of the inevitable. The iPod will eventually disappear and the iPhone will be the next big device. Convergence is the key. 

What Sony, Nokia & Samsung don't seem to understand is that Apple poses unsurmountable challenges that they just CANNOT compete with. Some examples of the key differences that the competition will NEVER be able to replicate the same. 

• General control of the Flash Memory market
• Apple is synonymous with 'cool as fuck i want it'
• A real world OS that is awesome
• A device that your parents would be able to use, hell even my Nan can use mine. 
• The worlds best R&D with top names like Jonathan Ive
• Steve Jobs' vision
• The iTunes store as a media selling/rental place
• Apples' inability to make anything complicated or unsatisfactory
• The fact that all these old iPod users will want to migrate to save the pocket space
• Regular software updates that are actually a big deal to the consumers
• The larger the iPhone fan base gets the more benefits of having them would be
• The only free mobile app OS in existence. And it also happens to be the most sophisticated
• A loyal fan base of proficient app developers on beck and call
• A world wide free distribution mechanism for apps. 
• Its patience with feature releases to make sure that they don't kill their product (i.e. copy & paste or flash support)
• The device has a 'jesus' like following. Every new release.. for ever.. will be met with 12am/7am openings, press fever and worldwide shortages. 

I could really go on and on. Google Andriod can't compete. Symbian certainly can't complete. Its a dead argument. Motorola. They're a proficient phone company surely with the old RAZR under their belt? Hell even I had a RAZR. That was the worst phone experience I had ever had. Sony was years ahead of it, but Apple is a decade ahead of Sony. Its almost like we're reviewing devices from different eras, like comparing a TV from the 80s to one in the 90s to one from 2010.

Apple have been so clever with the iPhone. The practically PRANKED Motorola with the old ROCR deal. Apple giggled ferociously at Motorolas attempt at an Apple product. iTunes on a phone. Genius. This is the pinnacle of mobile application technology obviously. 

They're new iPhones will be fairly predictable for the forseeable future. The 3G iPhone was practically the same. But if and when they do have a new product in development, none of us will see it. If we do see something that may look plausible, even that may be fake. For example - internally at Apple they often product fake prototype models and distribute them internally to see if there are any leaks.

A prime example would be the fake iPhone seen on the front of some French newspaper a few days before the iPhone was realeased. It looked like a perfectly good entry into the mobile phone market. Hell, they could probably take it to market and still make headway against Nokia etc. The difference is Apple want to reinvent things, not just stick with things because 'that is how it is done'.

Le premier baladeur MP3 sort en 1998, c'est le MPMAN MP-F10, (16 Mo de mémoire flash interne). Il fut trés vite suivi par d'autre marques, mais ce type de baladeurs ne réussit pas à percer à cause du rapport prix/capacité trop élevé des mémoires flash. En 1999, Remote Solutions sort le premier baladeur à disque dur, le Personal Jukebox (4.86 Go) qui était une vrai révolution pour l'époque, puis Archos, Creative, Philips suivirent sans grand succés, et il fallut attendre 2001 et la sortie de l'iPod d'Apple (5 Go) pour que ce genre de baladeur rencontre le succés qu'on leur connait, avec l'arrivée par la suite de la photo, puis de la vidéo (baladeurs MP4) et enfin, l'iTouch, le summum du baladeur numérique multimédia, qui a enfin abandonné le disque dur pour revenir à la mémoire flash (16 Go, à quand les 32, 64 et 128 Go?) et dispose du wifi, ce qui caractérise la 5° génération de baladeurs numériques.

Mais là n'est pas mon intérêt et je préfère revenir aux baladeurs MP3 à mémoire flash avec connecteur USB intégré, qui ne se limitent pas aux étiquettes "low-cost" et "cheap" que certains leurs donnent, mais qui selon moi apportent le meilleur rapport capacité/encombrement/autonomie/prix grace à l'augmentation de la capacité et à la diminution du prix des mémoires flash. Ils sont surtout destinés à ceux qui veulent simplement écouter de la musique, et qui se passent trés bien du reste.

merci à Wikipedia pour les dates

 Fonte: G1.

En Alemania a mediado de la década de los 80, se desarrolló en el instituto Fraunhofer, el formato MP3. Mientras que los primeros aparatos que lo reprodujeron fueron el MP Man y el  Diamond Multimedia Rio MP300. En el año 2001 la Apple lanzó el iPod volviendo locos a sus consumidores porque sus ventajas son una mayor capacidad de almacenamiento y mejor calidad de sonido y video

Vía R. popular Mechanics (Edicción Continental  No.58/06 • Junio 2005 / Imágenes Google