| Regarding SDMI, MMC, and a variety of memory devices that do not comply with these standards, it appears that we may see two separate markets develop. One market, accessed with SDMI cards, would pertain to copyrighted material. No music publisher or other owner of copyrighted material would have much enthusiasm over unauthorized and unpaid for copying. On the other hand, there are always likely to be at least some types of music and other files that need not be copyright protected and do not require payment of a royalty or other fee for copying or using the content. An ordinary MMC or similar card could hold, for example, selections from your own CD, comprising a set of items made available in a portable player rather than a more sedentary CD. This is analogous to copying selections on a cassette taken from many sources -- CD, LP records, other tapes, etc. Maybe some people will be satisfied solely with the convenience of an MP3 player with MMC card. Will that appliance become the pocket tape recorder of the future? |
