nomad

I always found it funny how portable MP3 players are so popular. I mean, the whole purpose of the MP3 file format was to compress audio - not to make copying songs and CD through filesharing easier. The arrival of these devices was basically a way of mainstream society acknowledging that this stuff is going on (especially when a dollar is to be made). Using their new brand of scaremongering and ignoring the Fair Use clause the RIAA says we are criminals for making MP3s or mix CDs. It seems a lot of things that involve a computer or some other piece of "advanced" technology fall under the nebulous umbrella of the DMCA. Companies like the defunct Diamond Multimedia, RCA and Creative Labs put together some of the first portable MP3 players, and basically set the piracy train on a collision course with this unreasonable law. But I digress. We're talking about MP3 players here.

When thinking of a portable MP3 player, most people's thoughts drift towards something like Apple's iPod. It is indeed a sexy piece of equipment with a whopping 35 GB of storage, but the $800 CDN price tag turns me off. Then there are the stories a friend told me about his experiences with the Windows-compatible version. I give Apple every bit of credit for developing this device and iTunes, but why do they insist on marking up the cost of all their proprietary hardware? Probably the reason why I'll never get an Apple computer.

But now there is another.

Creative Labs have impressed me with their swanky new Nomad Zen NX (via gizmodo of course), which comes in both 30 and 20 GB flavours. Ever since I began to make my own MP3s I've considered myself "in the market" to buy a portable player, but nothing has really caught my eye until this one. All of the devices that I've been exposed to have either been overpriced, don't have enough storage, are ugly, or come with shitty software. I came very close to getting a MuVo, because it was tiny and served equally well as a portable USB drive. But the price wasn't right for the 128 MB capacity; I wanted something that would hold a few albums, not 15 or 20 songs. Other key features of the Zen NX that have me very interested are its flexible and easy to use LCD interface and USB 2.0 compatibility. It goes for about $500 CDN, which is is still pretty expensive.

One thing I'd like to see is these portable players designed to be smaller. I mean the iPod may be somewhat of a standard, but why must every new device try and imitate it? Something the size of a MiniDisc player would be reasonable. Because seriously, who wants to walk around with a hard drive in their pocket?