Quote:
Like the Empeg team they had a prototype for a even better unit, but Compaq was bought by HP and they canned the project.


I'm pretty sure the project got shutdown completly by Compaq. While the HP merger was announced late 2001, it didn't happen until almost the middle of 2002. And it still took a good year or two after that for the changes to trickle down internally. The PJB was one of many cool projects the R&D labs were working on before the big cost reduction movement in mid 2001.

Even if the project hadn't been cancelled, I can't imagine the successor to the PJB being successful. Compaq had no interest in actually selling the PJB, and that was likely to stay true for the next unit. Internally, people really didn't even know of the PJB, and that would have been the first group to share it with. Get the techies in Compaq talking about it, then get marketing going and so on.

Looking back, Apple launched the iPod in October of 2001. But really it didn't become popular till mid to late 2003, with it exploding around 2004. One thing stayed very consistant. iPod. Not Apple Music Player model 1a, then 6b then Kitty, then Aspen, then some other unrelated name, but always iPod. They have had the advantage of building up one name in marketing, even when the product has changed, expanded, and evolved. That I think is the important lesson any other company needs to learn if they intend on even scratching the iPod market share.


I just hope that with the empeg folks finally get to stretch a bit under Sigmatel. The talent they have is still amazing, and it is a shame the Chroma, among other things never saw the light of day. If anyone has a beta unit they would like to sell... :-)