I know it's not going to happen, but if the empeg were to come out today, how do you think it'd fair? I remember when I got my first Mk2, I still had to explain to people what an mp3 was and what "upload" meant. 12GB was pretty big too.

So how do you think the empeg would do in today's market with digital music being mainstream? We always said the empeg was ahead of its time... is it's time yet?

Not sure really. On one hand digital music is much more mainstream and therefore would have a greater appeal. The reverse is that competition is much more fierce. The average consumer would probably go for one of the cheap MP3 CD units. For the widest appeal you'd also have to support AAC and WMA. This would entail the DRM baggage as well.

I personally think that a sort of slide in dock for the Karma would be pretty neat. The front display would fold down and you insert the Karma and then the display goes back up. Something that looked like the empeg but took a Karma as storage pretty much

I don't know if it would sell any better than before assuming it would cost considerably more than a cd based unit, but I haven't seen anything for a car installation that even comes close. All the other HD based units I've seen have inferior screens both in terms of size and information, let alone features. Sure you can plug-in your IPOD or my preferred portable (PJB100 because it can play back 100% gapless) but they just aren't as nice to work with in a car or hooked to a home stereo for that matter.

People I show my EMPEG to are always most suprised to find out that they don't make them anymore.

I think, if the empeg were to come out today, it would definitely do better than it did the first time around, however the 10mbit Ethernet clearly wouldn't cut it, and normal users would probably want a simpler and more automated interface for moving tunes back and forth.

The main issue the empeg would have is the general hostility of many new cars for aftermarket audio products. In far too many new cars, there's just no easy way to add your own stereo. Like it or not, I'll bet the future is more likely to have cars with some sort of docking solution for iPod/Karma/etc.

I think, if the empeg were to come out today,

I didn't know it was gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I think if it was released today, sales would be stronger for it, but I still don't see it as a 'mainstream/consumer' piece of hardware. It's flexible interface is probably too complicated for joe/jill consumer and might need a 'dumb' and 'advanced' mode. It would be interesting to see what could be done considering the new hardware available in the last few years.

care to speculate, Hugo?

Empeg complicated interface Hmmm have yu tryed using a top end head unit from alpine or the likes and i am not even going to mention the hard disc based unit from sony.

No, I'll admit I haven't. The empeg is so feature rich that it can be daunting to beginners.

Hmm... you guys bring up some interesting points.

CD based MP3 players: I think they have been out long enough where as people realize that CDR's scratch more easily and 700mb doesn't hold very much.. My thought is that the longer these players are out there, the more people will realize this. Hopefully all CD players will play mp3s in the future, but only as a side feature.

iPod: This is what got me thinking. Because the iPod is making such headway, technology like this is more mainstream. And anyone who has driven with one while trying to find a song can admit that it is not a solution for daily use (but perfect for a road trip where the passanger can play DJ).

Factory Radios: Wasn't the Mk3 a OEM type device? Maybe that's where the market is headed. But it does seem that while some companies are making it harder to put in aftermarket systems, some companies like Ford are getting away from "oval" shaped radios and the like...

I'm sure there would be some tweaks to the current design if the empeg were to be launched today such as USB2.0, but all in all, I think it's ready for the mainstream more now than ever. The feature set is deep, but to just play a song and find a playlist, no special reading is required. It's only complicated when you start looking for more.

OT: Nice avatar there Gleep

>> OT: Nice avatar there Gleep

Likewise, but my favorite was tfabris's, I don't like his new one nearly as much.

Likewise, but my favorite was tfabris's, I don't like his new one nearly as much.

Awwwwwwwwwww, shucks.

Actually, Master Kan is older than Bart. He's back because someone else said they missed him. I can't please everyone simultaneously.

Maybe you should have made a new one, where Bart dressed up as Master Kan for Halloween...?

ok, nevermind...

Truth be told, Tony, I still miss your original (or at least original when I got here) picture of yourself. Between your and Bitt's new avatars it just feels like something’s missing!

//me begins to repeat to myself:
I must not fear change . . .
I must not fear change . . .
I must not fear change . . .

Yeah, I agree with that. It was funny when Tony would just use the "Master" one to post FAQ links and "grasshopper" comments. LOL. Bitt's red logo was cool too... Now if we can just talk mcomb and mschrag into getting avatars so we can tell who's who at a glance .

So how do you think the empeg would do in today's market

More than a year and a half ago I said this and I still stand by it.

tanstaafl.

Total agreement with that the empeg would never become mainstream its just too good.

If you removed most of the features and put more flashy lights on it and had it so you have to upload with a flash chip or something, had an indivdual button for each feature, make the case cheaper and nastier, render it hack proof, give it a really long curious model name and stick an alpine sticker on it then it would probably do better but i wouldn't buy one.

Now if we can just talk mcomb and mschrag into getting avatars so we can tell who's who at a glance

Hmmm, ya know I have been reading this forum with avatars off ever since I joined so it never really occurred to me to set one up. I'll see if I can dig something up.
-Mike