There where numerous MP3 players on the market prior to the Ipod release.
- indeed, I took a stab in the dark, Apple does innovate, not in this case ...
Digital Media Players
IXI [not MP3]
The Audible Player - not MP3 more of a digital voc-recorder
SaeHan/Eiger
MPMan - 1st 'MP3' Player files were transferred via the Parallel Port ... Korean - eclipsed by the
The RIAA's Associate Director of Anti-Copyright infringement initially said the MPMan had "no function other than playing material that was stolen from record companies". He later said it was "a unique device. It's something that we haven't seen on the market before".[2][5]
then came the Diamond Multimedia -
Rio PMP300 made famous by the RIAA lawsuit
Legal disputes[edit]
On October 8, 1998, the American recording industry group, the Recording Industry Association of America, filed an application for a Temporary Restraining Order to prevent the sale of the Rio player in the Central District Court of California, claiming the player violated the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act. See RIAA v. Diamond Multimedia.
Judge Andrea Collins issued the temporary order on October 16, but required the RIAA to post a $500,000 bond that would be used to compensate Diamond for damages incurred in the delay if Diamond eventually prevailed in court. Diamond then announced that it would temporarily delay shipment of the Rio.
On October 26, Judge Collins denied the RIAA's application.[3] [4] On appeal, the Ninth Circuit held that the Rio's space shifting was fair use and not a copyright infringement.[5]
After the lawsuit ended, Diamond sold 200,000 players.[6]
HanGo Personal Jukebox - In 1998, Compaq developed the Personal Jukebox, which was the first hard drive based DAP using a 2.5" laptop drive. It was licensed to HanGo Electronics (now known as Remote Solution), which first sold the PJB-100 (Personal Jukebox) in 1999. The player had an initial capacity of 4.8 GB, with an advertised capacity of 1200 songs.
Creative NOMAD Jukebox - In 2000, Creative released the 6GB hard drive based Creative NOMAD Jukebox. The name borrowed the jukebox metaphor popularised by Remote Solution, also used by Archos. Later players in the Creative NOMAD range used microdrives rather than laptop drives.
Cowon iAUDIO CW100 - In October 2000, South Korean software company Cowon Systems released their first MP3 player, the CW100, under the brand name iAUDIO. Ironically, Cowon would later be accused for 'stealing' the 'i-prefix' from Apple, despite the iAUDIO brand being launched one year prior to the first iPod model and aimed exclusively at the Korean market.
Archos Jukebox - In December 2000, some months after the Creative's NOMAD Jukebox, Archos released its Jukebox 6000 with a 6GB hard drive.
Finally in 2001 - iPod
IMO the Imac was hideous, and I wasnt born yet when the first Mac was released. :shrug:
what was wrong with the iMac 15 inch screen all in one
Research shows that Xerox had something on the market 3 years prior.
- it was not a commercial release Xerox PARC used several 100 in its research labs - the 1st commercial GUI I saw was GEOS running on a Commodore 64 in 1986
Also want to add, I know several Apple users who discounted the Samsung watch and other variants as useless gadgets. Now that Apple has one released, they can't stop talking about how amazing and innovative it is.