http://disqus.com/people/dbc5317686cd69e4aceb564d88754894/enTue, 29 Mar 2005 13:32:11 -0000http://farsideoftech.disqus.com/hdd_mp3_players_round_1/#comment-1273230Well the strictly flash-based players seem to only be serving a small market right now. The inexpensive ones (~$100) allow people to jump into the portable audio game easily, this is the main draw of the iPod Shuffle. On a tangent of my own, I find it amazing how Apple was able to market the Shuffle. What other company could accomplish that?! "Life is random" is just the best excuse for the lack of a display, and people eat it up! As you can tell, I'm not an Apple fan ;)<br><br>The big thing in portable players right now are the microdrive based ones. I find it amazing that the 4GB iPod mini sold so well at $250 when the 20GB Ipod was $300. This trend towards portability is interesting in its own right. Personally, I'd rather have a hard drive player that held alot, instead of sacrificing space for portability. On that rare occasion that I exercise outside, I find the flash-based players to be infinitely more useful than a microdrive one. I would rather not have to worry about the drive heads crashing and whatnot. <br><br>I think I may discuss this further in my second article, still not sure what to cover there...TenkenSun, 20 Mar 2005 01:44:02 -0000http://farsideoftech.disqus.com/the_rio_chroma_my_dream_digital_audio_player/#comment-1273232It's all just speculation now, it may even have built in radio broadcasting :P By the time it comes out, I shouldn't be a poor student anymore, or I could just get the Karma for even cheaper. For now I'll wait until they announce full specs and price for the Chroma.TenkenTue, 29 Mar 2005 13:32:11 -0000