Do you all think Mr. Seymour is politically neutral?
Read the following article and see if you don't think there
may be a conflict of interest here.
From PC Magazine,
April 20, 1999
A Tale of Two Gizmos
By Jim Seymour
Well, here I go again. As I said a couple of issues back, I often use computer products in very different ways than their designers intended. What the heck: I'm the customer, and I can do whatever I want with this stuff, huh? I fell in love with Gizmo Number One, the Diamond Rio MP3 "RAM-man" music player, the first time I got my hands on one, last fall (www.diamondmm.com). And I reveled in Diamond's legal victory over the recording industry, which tried to squash the Rio. As my colleague John C. Dvorak said, the recording business got what it deserved, especially after stomping DAT as a consumer recording medium a decade ago.
I'm a big fan of MP3-formatted music. I keep a lot of MP3 tracks on my notebook, including my own music, and use that notebook as a background-music machine when I'm working long nights away from home in hotel rooms. It keeps me away from CNN and those Movies You Know You Shouldn't Watch on the hotel's pay-per-view system.
The very best thing about the Rio is that I can have a diverse mix of music in the machine: Latin jazz, opera arias, cello solos, Tito to Luciano to Yo-Yo without changing or even carrying disks. (Yes, it's easy to make up your own compilation CDs, with your favorites. But I prefer the spontaneity of just sticking in my Rio whatever feels hot to me right now and hitting the road. And I can always refresh the contents from the much longer list of tunes I have on my notebook at that moment.)
Like every other Rio user, I want more memory, and as far as I'm concerned, the company could drop those lower-quality/higher-compression settings, which until recently I never used. But it's a great, remarkably fully realized first implementation of a damned good idea.
I've changed how I use the Rio lately, though, as a result of my experience with Gizmo Number Two--the Audible MobilePlayer, intended as a replacement for audiocassette books. The MobilePlayer, lumpier than the Rio but a conceptual twin, is part of an elegantly conceived system that lets you download to the unit a huge range of books, journals, speeches, performances, radio broadcasts, and TV sound tracks.
I like the MobilePlayer, and I like Audible's civilized pricing even better. For example, the almost-8-hour, unabridged, downloadable Audible recording of Jon Krakauer's sensational Into Thin Air costs just $10.95. At Amazon.com, you'll pay $20.97 for the unabridged audio cassette recording of the same book. (Or $16.39 for the hardback or $6.39 for the paperback.) Amazon.com adds a few dollars and a few days in shipping costs and time; Audible's version, downloaded more or less instantly, carries no delivery tariff.
The Audible player isn't MP3-based and is in some ways the better for it. For example, the first version could hold 2 hours of material; a new version, just shipping, can hold over 7 hours of audio books--far more than the Rio at any compression-scheme setting.
But the MP3 standard is obviously going to be a Big Thing indeed, and since Audible has established that it's a content player and not wedded to hardware sales, the company's beginning to make some of its material available for free as MP3 downloads for the Rio. You can take a look and grab some samples at www.audible3.com, and you can see the full range of Audible content for sale at www.audible.com.
You'll be jealous. Right now there are more than 6,500 Audible-format items available, but only a handful are in MP3. Audible says more MP3- compressed files are coming soon, but "soon" tends to be a highly variable variable in this business. Don't hold your breath.
If you have a Rio, however, there's no reason not to start sampling around now on the Audible3 page. Even if you listen to MP3 files only on your notebook or desktop PC, take a look. You may well wind up singing along as you work to Rich Little's send-up of Bill Clinton singing "Call Me Irresponsible."
I don't like carrying a pocketful of similar gizmos, so for me the answer is to carry a Rio, with my ever-expanding library of MP3 files on the notebook that I usually bring along. I have some Audible content on the notebook's hard disk too, so now I can flush the music on the Rio, load Audible's audio books, and lose myself in something.
Before long, larger-capacity Rios will knock out Audible's proprietary players. Everything's going MP3, and if you doubt it just talk to a teenager. You'll get an earful, in more ways than one.
Update. At the end of 1998, I reported here that I'd found a really extraordinary line of notebook carrying cases, from a tiny Pennsylvania company called CODi. I've put a lot of miles on a $159 CODi Diplomat AirPro bag since then, and it's as tight and tough as ever. Indeed, despite my abuse, it still looks brand-new.
There are three keys to CODi bags: great design, superb materials and construction, and a very effective shock-proofing system, AirPro, based on a sealed air-pillow sleeve that holds your notebook tightly. CODi says a notebook will survive a drop of 6.5 feet in an AirPro bag. I haven't intentionally dropped my notebook in a CODi case to test that claim, but I have dropped my CODi bag 2 or 3 feet twice, with nary a problem.
CODi recently rolled out two new designs I'd suggested, and both are winners. The new $159 CODi Mobile Office is a wheeled, roll-on suitcase-style bag, which lets you carry a notebook, perhaps a small printer, and a change of clothes without breaking your back. CODi wisely scaled the case size down a little from that of many roll-on bags, meaning it fits perfectly in the new, more restricted carry-on-bag-measuring devices popping up at airports. And it fits easily into an overhead bin.
At the other extreme, for devoted minimalists, the newest CODi Folio case, at $59, is the best way I've found to carry a subnotebook, such as the Sharp Actius or Sony VAIO. You can stick in your airline tickets, a magazine, and your car keys--plus all the cords and bits needed to keep the subnote working, including external drives and a power supply--but not much else. If you like to carry the morning papers in your bag, this one isn't for you.
Both the Folio and the Mobile Office use foam padding, not AirPro, but both feel very safe to me.
CODi brags that these bags are American-made and show it. The company is convincing me that the phrase means something again.
Sold direct at www.codi-inc.com. And highly recommended.
Jim Seymour
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