There are so many MP3 players on the market that they now all look the same. The iPod, the Sansa, the Zune, the Zen, there really is no difference. Sure one may be a little more popular and another may be more compatible with non-proprietary formats and software, but in the end they all have the same set of features.

Pretty much every manufacturer, except for the iPod, features a built-in FM radio. The built-in radio is the iPod's right mouse button. For almost 20 years consumers tried to tell Apple that they needed to have two buttons on the mouse. Apple spent 20 years trying to convince the consumer that as long as you didn't mind using both of your hands in keyboard combinations you really didn't need two buttons on a mouse. Almost two years ago Apple gave in and started supporting the two button mouse.

Back to the MP3 player topic. The sea of MP3 players, or I shall use the politically correct term – portable media players, has become so crowded that they all are having a hard time staying afloat. Each company searches for that killer feature but no one has come up with it yet.

I am here to tell portable media player manufacturers what I want in my portable media player that it doesn't already have. It is a short list:

1. AM radio
2. Wireless headset

That's it. In fact, I would happily give up the video and photo features for an AM radio. It is as though portable media companies don't even look at the market before they make these things.

FM radio plays music – I can fit 2,000 songs on my MP3 player. I don't need to tune in to FM radio to hear more music. Talk radio is the #1 format in almost every market.

Recently there has been a trend for talk radio stations to make the switch over the FM, but this move is slow going. I love talk radio I even listen to sports talk and Dr. Laura just to avoid the songs about "Lady Lumps" on the FM dial. Personally I think Fergie should have those checked out.

Second, wireless headset. The most irritating thing about my MP3 player is the tangled mess of wires that the headset becomes if I put it in my pocket. Microsoft has tried to help this by making the earbuds magnetic on their new device, but that just means that they get tangled in knots together rather than individually.

A wireless headset would be amazing, even if it was lower quality and only worked while sitting still. I don't need to jog, but I would listen more while I was waiting in lines or eating lunch if it didn't mean 10 minute of untangling.

I know that there are winders for ear buds, but those take almost as much time to use as the untangling.

We live in a difficult time, if only our ancestors could see how hard we have it. If they could see our day and the problems we have with tangled earbuds and lack of AM radio on our iPods, they would surely weep.

Related articles:

1. How to get music off of your iPod
2. Zune no big woop
3. iPod’s are NOT the only option for MP3 Players
4. MP3 Players
5. Are Macintosh computers poised to make a run?

Tags: Apple, iPod, Microsoft, music

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 at 8:47 am and is filed under Riding Shotgun with Adam. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.