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The Evolution of Portable Music Devices

September 2, 2011 by · Leave a Comment 

Music mobility—that’s what customers want from a device. Before the existence of the popular iPod and Zune players, other devices, such as cassette players, CD players and mini-CD players, dominated the market. As time progresses, music players get smaller, more powerful and capable of holding more music. Each new medium provides more for a customer, such different formats for music or movies. Before MP3 players, other popular mobile electronics dominated the market.

Cassette Players
Cassette players started the entire mobile music revolution during the 80s, quickly replacing the bulky vinyl record players of the 70s. Cassette players also started third-party accessory businesses that created cases, armbands and plastic covers, similar to an ipod case of today. The most recognizable cassette player became the Walkman. The Walkman was hip, and all the kids during the 80s and 90s wanted one. Portable, small and capable of lasting a few hours with two, double-AA batteries, it was the king of mobile electronics back in the day.

Cassettes introduced a new way of listening to music. Users would pop-in a cassette and listen to music using their headphones. Even larger albums worked great on cassettes, allowing to switch between two sides—an “A” side and a “B” side. As cassette players grew in popularity, they offered another innovative feature—a radio station. Users could listen to their tape or switch over to a local radio station and hear music.

CD Players

When the new medium appeared, Cassette players become almost instantly obsolete. CD players allowed for better quality music and were easier to care for than a tape. CD players remained popular throughout the 90s, but they also helped transition music into the digital age. CD players, as with cassette players, often were built with radio stations, allowing users to listen to their digital song and to a radio station. However, when P2P music programs appeared, users could use CDs to create personalized tracks to play on their CD players, growing the popularity of the medium even further.

MP3 Players
The personalization of tracks eventually leads to the elimination of CDs altogether. Yes, CDs still remained in use, but not for mobile electronics, such as in camcorders or MP3 players. Today, MP3 players use digital storage devices to hold information. For example, the first iPod played only music. As time progressed, the iPod went from a scroll wheel design with no games to a touch-screen based design capable of playing games, movies and music. The iPod accessory companies also grew because of the success of the device, prompting the creation of a newer ipod touch case each year. However, Apple continues to meet newer competition, especially from Microsoft, Panasonic and Toshiba who each have their own popular MP3 player.

While mobile electronics and mobile music continue to evolve, the future seems to be headed in all-in-one devices such as a smart phone. With phones serving as an MP3 player, camera and video camera device, cell phones appear to be transitioning into the all-in-one devices of the future.

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