In todays Dallas Morning News that was an interesting article about portable MP3 players, and car players. They did not even mention the Rio/Empeg player.

Here is the article.

They did mention 2 things that I found interesting.. that next month Sony is shipping a car player priced at around $1500 and that the number of portable MP3 players is expected to jump from 1.6 million units last year to over 6 million units in 2003.

Did Rio shut down the Rio car too soon?

I don't think they would have included a product that was EOL. I imagine that while sales will be good, 6 million units (or even an additional 4.5 million) is pretty optimistic.

While I can agree that 6 million units can be optimistic, I found it more interesting that a big gun like Sony would enter the market with en empeg type product, and in the same price range.. when Rio already researched the market and thought otherwise.

What does Sony know that Rio doesn't? Personally, I hope the Sony product rockets and takes off. That way, maybe Rio will reintroduce the Rio Car. Not to mention that competition can be healthy..

And just for grins, here is a link to Sonys product.. the MEX-HD1.

Now a manufacturer has gone one better. An automotive CD player with a hard drive that RIPS CDs directly into the unit's drive.

The Sony MEX-HD1 is the first unit we have come across that can do this, an idea that makes perfect sense with respect to consumer convenience.


could this be the stupidest quote from the article

"could this be the stupidest quote from the article"

I disagree. Everyone on this board knows that sitting in a car to rip all of your mp3's is dumb, but I think the average consumer will see it differently. Sony will probably market the unit as "Play your CD once, it will be there forever" or something to that effect. With this kind of approach, customers don't have to understand, or even change their thinking about, mp3s. They just have a CD player that "remembers" all of their music.

I have kept pretty quite with my opinions about the EOL of the Empeg, but I think the biggest strike against the Empeg was not marketing or price. I think that people don't like change, even for the better. How many people have you showed your Empeg to and they say "Where do you put your CD?" Most of my friends think the Empeg is cool, but wouldn't buy one because its just to different and they arn't willing to commit their car audio so something so radical. I think the best way to educate the consumer is not to let them know you are educating them (i.e.: speak their language). Sony knows this and after this product is popular (and I think it will be), people will start to understand the usefulness of units like the Empeg. In the end, like has been said many times before, the Empeg was before its time.

If you read the OT board then you know that my company just went out of business, but we went out with a great product. Our product was solid and revolutionary in the industry, but we had trouble selling it because it was so different. We could handle systems for $500,000 that would cost $3 million for other solutions, and ours did a much better job . . . but time and time again we saw the customer just shrug us off because choosing us would mean a change of thinking.

I disagree with you not because ripping CD's in your car isn't stupid (it is), but because I think the average consumer won't think this through. All they think is "this is the same as what I've had before, only better" - Not "This is a better way of life." (Which is no kidding the way I feel about my Empeg).

-Jeff

Hmm. Very interesting perspective. And I think I actually agree. In my current job I am constantly butting heads with the rest of the company (its a small one) because they seem to resist change.

Thinking about it, I would much rather sit in the privacy of my own home (in my underwear if I so desire) to rip my CDs than in my car (while driving? Are they shock mounted to prevent skipping?) but ripping while driving will be seen as a convenience. Especially for the many people that still don't have a computer in the first place. ( ! )

On the otherhand, I think that plenty of people 'got it' when it came to the Empeg .. but the price kept them away. I am not rich by any means, but I gave up a lot to get mine. I don't expect everyone to go that extra mile to own one, and don't expect them to do it for the Sony product either. My thinking is these same people that resist change and a new way of thinking will also continue to buy the $300 in dash CD player, because $1500 is also a radical point of view.

Sony has a long history in Audio equipment with a complete vertical and horizontal product line in Car Audio. They can look at this poduct differently than the stand alone Empeg (and Rio). As a Division, Car Audio for Sony will remain profitable no matter how thin a margin this particular player has. The player can also be seen as a leader for complete audio packages from Sony - amps, speakers, etc.

Hmm. Very interesting perspective.

For another, but nonetheless related perspective, see here.

tanstaafl.