ya know what's scary.... i'm SERIOUSLY considering buying a new one and storing it in my closet just to have a backup

Me too; actually, I'm seriously considering buying a Mk2a to complete my collection (in addition to the idea of having a backup, which is a good one - after all, what if it gets stolen or something despite taking all possible precautions?)...

It's sad to hear that the hardware - at least as we know it today - has been discontinued. I glanced at the Slashdot thread, even though I knew what I would find - a bunch of clueless people who all think that they can do it better, but haven't the slightest idea of the kind of work that's gone into the Empeg/Rio Car product over the years; or who think that having a pile of CDs in the car provides just as good an experience, when the experience of the Empeg is totally different from that of any other car audio product on the planet. There's just something about being able to say to a passenger "so, what do you want to hear," and then being able to just find it, almost instantaneously; or being able to play whatever you're in the mood for, without digging through piles of CDs. Thank you very much, guys@empeg, for changing forever the way I listen to music in my car; it's been worth every penny.

And of course, in addition to the wonderful experience of the product itself, there's the user community! We've got a bunch of great people here, and it has been (and will continue to be for quite a long time, I hope) a pleasure being here since September '99, even though most of the time I'm content to read what everybody else has to say... :)

Anyway, I just had to say something about the discontinuation - call it venting my frustration, or whatever. Can't wait to see the new software and continued development on whatever else the guys@empeg have in the pipeline...


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Daniel M. Zimmerman, Caltech Computer Science
Mk.2 #060000058, 36GB
Mk.1 #00101, 10GB