Before there were iPods, there were MP3 players. The very first one was launched this Month on CeBIT in 1998. The iPod on the other hand, is just barely 7 years old.
The MPMan F10 has a whooping 32MB of flash memory when it first went out in public. Produced by Korea’s Saehan Information Systems, this very first MP3 player went on sale at just $250 a pop.
Then Rio followed suit with their PMP300. Apple was late by 3 years but it revolutionized how people consumed digital music. The rest, they say is history.
Back in 2003, a friend from Japan whom I knew thru the internet came back to the Philippines, brought me a first generation iPod. It was just 10GB, hooks up via Firewire and weighs like a brick. That was my very first MP3 player. I never stopped loving the iPod and had 6 more of them since then — iPod 20GB, iPod Photo, iPod Video 30GB, iPod Nano 2nd Gen, iPod Nano 3rd Gen, iPod Touch.
What was your first MP3 player and when did you had it?
I’m a proud owner of this MPman MP3 player! I had it in 1998, when I run the site Hwzone, about hardware reviews.