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Monday, June 1, 2009

History of Portable Audio Players

By Sampson Zelder

Portable audio players are mobile devices able to play digital music. There are several varieties of portable audio player that include MP3 players, cell phones, boomboxes and mini-disk players. Technically a digital voice recorder might fall into the portable audio category as well, but its a term generally considered for musical accessories.

Portable audio players are taken for granted by todays generation who havent known any of the predecessors that led the way with portable audio players. It was only during the 1970s that music lovers got their first chance to bring music with them in their cars, with the 8-track cassette. Prior to this, people were limited to AM/FM radios. The bulky 8-track resembled a VHS video tape and slotted into a car stereo system fitted for them specifically. They would play music tracks, but between each song as the player moved from one track onto the next there would be several seconds of laborious silence as the reader shifted. The audible clunking of the reading spools on the player were also unwelcome additions to the music.

It wasnt until the 1980s that the cassette tape arrived on the scene, allowing people to realize a truly portable audio device. These smaller plastic cassettes usually fit into plastic protective covers no bigger than a deck of cards and could be played in portable music players called walkmans that could be heard by plugging a set of headphones into the player. Boomboxes were also popular in the late 1980s, small stereo systems with inbuilt cassette players that allowed people to carry around their music players.

By 1988 the compact disc appeared on the market. People took to these quickly as the appeal of not having to rewind or fast-forward through several minutes of tape just to listen to a different song became apparent. Cassette tapes also had a tendency to wear out or the delicate tape could tear, break or come out of the casing. The digital compact disc was far more indestructible and they were much more conveniently sized than the old vinyl records.

The only real down-side to compact discs was the true portable aspect. As CDs required laser light technology to read the digital files stored on the disc, they were able to be bumped or jolted when played in portable audio players like disc-man players. This meant they were unsuitable for cyclists or joggers, who stuck firmly to the stability of the cassette walkman.

As computers began to enter most homes for personal use, digital music and smaller memory storage devices meant that the technology surrounding digital audio jumped ahead in leaps and bounds. The MP3 file allowed people to listen to music through their computer speakers.

As MP3 files grew in popularity and flash memory sticks became more common, the first portable MP3 players were created as a direct result. With some MP3 players as small as a pack of gum, people were now able to listen to portable audio files from gadgets that fit within their pockets. They no longer needed to change the CD or the cassette after every album, but were able to store multiple songs on a tiny flash memory drive that also didnt have the problems of breaking or jolting during activity. In order to add or remove music files from the MP3 player, a person only needed to transfer files from a computer to the portable MP3 player, which has the memory capacity to store an entire music library. Now thats convenience! - 18423

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