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I wanted to like the MiniDisc format. I really did. On first glance, it seemed like an easy way to create the digital equivalent of the "mix tapes" of my youth. Sony tried hard to sell the format (hell, they're still trying) but it's time for them to thrown in the towel and admit that MiniDisc is just another format destined for the Dead Media Project. Maybe it's too much like a regular CD. Too expensive. Or maybe it's because recordable CDs hold more data. So when Saehan, a spin-off of Samsung, introduced a little Walkman-esque device with solid state storage, my geek ears perked up. And it got even more interesting when I realized that the format they had chosen to compress the music with was MPEG3, an underground favorite for delivering digital music files over the Internet.
The MP-Man is super easy to use. If you've ever used an MPEG player before, you're familiar with the playlist concept. Using your personal computer, you order your songs (translated, or "ripped," from a CD and compressed to MPEG format) into the order you want them in. Then you place the MP-Man into a PalmPilot-like cradle that's connected to your PC via a serial cable (there is currently no Mac version available). Press a button and the songs are loaded into the player. Take it out of the cradle and you're ready to hit the road. The cradle is also the battery charger for the player. The MP-Man is smaller than a pack of cigarettes and almost as light (about 65 grams). And unlike most portable CD players, jogging it or jolting it doesn't make it skip because it uses a solid state storage system (no moving parts, all the songs stored in Flash memory). You can run or shake the player without interupting the music. But my initial enthusiasm for the concept isn't enough to make me drop an early-adopter-sized wad of cash on it. Like most newborn tech, this would-be sucessor to the Walkman isn't quite ready for primetime. First off, this first version of the MP-Man doesn't offer removable media. The player has all its storage built in. So there's no way for me to change my playlist on the road without a laptop and the cradle. Not exactly portable. I want something removable that I can swap back and forth. Plus, the player is just too expensive right now. You get bragging rights for having one early but you'll pay a sucker's price. The 32MB version holds just 32 minutes and the 64MB model holds 64 which is still smaller than most CDs (which hold up to 74 minutes). The model I worked with still feels like a prototype. A good prototype, but a prototype nonetheless. For now, you have to order the MP-Man over the Net and it comes with Japanese-style rechargable batteries which aren't easy to find if you live in the U.S. No matter how cool it is, the MP-Man is still at least one generation short of tempting me. Rumors are flying that, just before the holidays, a major consumer electronics company will introduce a portable MPEG player with removable media for under US$200. I'll wait at least 'til then but I'm sure that my next portable music player is going to be solid state and Internet-ready. - Matthew Hawn [8/31/98]
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