What's interesting about MP3 in consumer devices is that it was adopted by the no-name Taiwanese manufacturers before the Japanese companies. Imagine if Jensen developed the first CD and player and Sony, Philips, etc. all had to play catch-up. I think that's what happened with MP3. You have garbage coming out first, and Sony has to use that as a benchmark. The Aiwa (Sony crap brand) unit is a perfect example. It blows because it was probably modeled after Taiwanese dreck. Ultimately, the crappiness of these things affects the public's perception of all MP3 products. People probably see MP3s as a Napster-music-stealing-toy instead of a viable recording medium like us empeggers see it.

So, what happens is people that could benefit from MP3s don't buy these products because they think they're beneath them. The people that do buy them are mostly Napster users and they don't have the money to buy a >$200 car stereo. Hence, the target market is losers.

Now that Sony is making an hard drive-based in-dash compressed music stereo, it costs $1500 and doesn't use MP3. It doesn't even try to associate itself with MP3. This is because they're trying to tap the market that Empeg couldn't. People that should have the empeg, but think they have to steal music in order to make use of it. Also people that don't know a CD ripper/computer from a hole in the wall.

Of course, this is all my opinion. This is also my last post as an addict. #699.