It is hard to imagine that something that is very usual and obvious now, just didn't exist 10-15 years ago. No smartphones, PDAs, digital cameras... Even such obvious thing nowadays as MP3 player just didn’t exist then. However, when you hold your iPod or Zune in your hand, you don't even think that this type of the device is celebrating now its 10th birthday! 10 years ago, in March 1998, was released the first in the history portable MP3 player. First company that produced such device was Korean manufacturer Saehan Information Systems, and the pioneer in the digital audio was named MPMan F10. It had a very small amount of memory - just 32 MB, a laughable amount nowadays, but back then it was a good storage capability. It was even extendable, so if 32 MB was too small for you, there was an opportunity to expand it to twice as much storage space that it had before, a stunning 64 MB! It had a modern design, a small display that showed the number of currenty playing song, and was being sold for 250 dollars a piece. When it was released, nobody expected it to begin a new type of gadgets, one that we are so accustomed today. Back then it was just a high-tech gadget, a proof-of-concept in some sort, which proved that digital audio players based on flash memory have the rights to live. And as we see now, they conquered the world easily, leaving behind those bulky CD players for sure.
After the Saehan Information Systems, it was the Rio company who joined the race, with their PMP300 model. It was even more successful than its predecessor, and continued the way to bring the digital audio players to masses. Nowadays, when flash audio players are everywhere, it is clear, that Koreans was right ten years ago - their invention had a very bright and clear future. We can only wonder, how many functions will the audio players have in another 10 years?
