LGR - Diamond Rio PMP300 MP3 Player from 1998 (Patreon)
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MP3s!! In the late nineties there were few things more exciting in the world of music, computers, the internet, and general gadgetry. And the original 1998 Diamond Rio was one of the trailblazers that kicked off the whole portable digital audio player craze. It may not have been the very first, but it came close! If nothing else its impact was notable, being the first of its kind to be commercially successful in North America, and the legal pushback it endured from the RIAA set a lasting precedent for all other MP3 players to come.
Yeah this is a mighty important bit of tech history that I've wanted to talk about for a long time, so I'm happy to finally have this complete and ready to share. I've held onto this new old stock PMP300 for years now so finally releasing it from its plastic prison was exciting enough on its own. And wow, these things sure got harder to find boxed in recent years huh? Back when I got mine they were all over eBay. Not so much anymore.
Covering this has also gotten me in the mood to revisit more digital audio players from 1998 to 2003 or so, since that little half-decade-long explosion in the market was a lot more fun to revisit than I anticipated. I hope you enjoy!