The History of Portable MP3 Players
MP3 technology was designed in the early 1990s and first appeared on the market in 1998. The first players had minimal storage capacity but throughout the 2000s flash drive memory was replaced with hard drives in portable MP3 players, allowing for storage of thousands of songs on one device. The iPod coupled with iTunes led the market and revolutionized portable MP3 player style and technology.
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First Player
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In 1998 WinAmp was created--the first mp3 software for Windows. Also that year Eiger Labs released the first physical MP3 player, MPMan F10. The portable device was expensive at $250 with only 32MB of memory.
Diamond Rio
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The first portable MP3 player that caught on was Diamond Rio's PMP300 a few months after MPMan in 1998. Diamond Rio gained media attention by beating the record industry in a lawsuit that claimed the player encouraged users to copy music unlawfully.
Wider Storage
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In 1999 portable MP3 players began to increase storage size with the Sensory Science RaveMP 2100. It could hold up to 96MB of memory. The HanGo PJB-100 was first to shift to hard drive instead of flash memory for storage. With a 4.86GB hard drive it could store 100 CDs. The following year the Creative Nomad Jukebox featured a 6GB hard drive.
Intel Pocket Concert
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In 2001, Intel released The Pocket Concert, which had a memory of 128MB. It was popular but short-lived because Intel discontinued its line of home electronics products.
The iPod
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Apple's first iPod with a Toshiba 5GB hard drive was introduced in October 2001 followed by the release of a 10GB version shortly afterward. In 2002 Apple released the second generation iPod that featured a 20GB hard drive. The iPod's closest competitor at the time was the 20GB Creative Nomad Jukebox Zen. By 2005 the iPod offered 60GB of storage.
iTunes
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In 2003, Apple offered another surprise to the digital music world, introducing the iTunes Music Store, which allowed iPod users to download songs directly into the players. The store used m4A files, which offered a better sound quality than mp3 files. The iTunes Music Store became the No. 1 music retail outlet in America in 2008.
Distant iPod Competitors
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Microsoft finally decided to compete with the iPod in 2006 by introducing the Zune. That same year Apple introduced the iPhone, merging the phone and the iPod. Creative continued to challenge the iPod with Zen while Sony, Sandisk, iRiver, Samsung and Cowon also had mp3 players on the market throughout the decade. Features of the late 2000s were increased storage capacity and Wi-Fi capability.
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- Photo Credit photo of Apple iPhone by Alex Cosper
