Is it worth trying to get this going for a mac user, or should I just bag it?

It is worth it, and jemplode works well for everything except upgrading the actual player software. Like Tony said for that your best bet is to borrow someones PC running windows or linux. It can be done using Virtual PC and a DB9 to mac serial adapter (I used the one that comes in the Palm Pac for mac OS) if you already have VPC, but I wouldn't bother buying VPC and getting it configured just for this. After getting the empeg upgraded, music uploads and playlist maintenance can easily be done with your mac. You might want to consider upgrading to OS X though as I think jemplode gets a little more testing there than on OS 9.

-Mike