MP3: Walk-out on the Walkman

They're small, they're light-weight - some even call them sexy. No matter how you look at it, these tiny electronic wonders have grabbed a huge share of the portable audio market and are invading the homes of millions of Americans. The biggest thing in music these days is actually about the size of a match box. This holiday season showed us that MP3 is here to stay, and we will never listen to music the same way again.\nThis season people hit electronics stores looking for portable devices that would fit their active lifestyles and provide hours of listening pleasure for their digital music collections. Circuit City manager William Ellis says people have a more clear idea of what products are available and which ones will meet their needs than in years past.\n"There seemed to be more people who were already very knowledgeable about MP3 players, where in years past we were doing a lot of the education as to what's out there and, 'this is how you use this,'" Ellis says. "This year we had a lot of people coming in saying, 'I want this particular one. I've already done my research.'" \nIn the electronics industry, size definitely matters, but not in the way you would think. Just like cell phones, these days, the smaller the device, the better. Because of their compact size, MP3 players are ideal for working out or walking to class.\n"I'm used to having big ol' clunky CD players," says Best Buy team member Josh Partridge. "I like the fact that it can fit right in my coat pocket."\nEllis says the selling point for many MP3 players is that they are perfect for athletic activities.\n"One of the things that customers always ask for is something that's skip-free when they're working out, jogging, or whatever. Even with all the protection that CD players have, they're not going to be able to match MP3 players in terms of that," he says.\niRivers and Samsung's Yep players - both of which were among the most popular this holiday season - are also both among the smallest players on the market. But the current trend setter in portable audio is Apple's iPod, even though it's slightly larger than its competition. Shown off by those who have and envied by those who don't, this sleek little player is becoming something of a pop icon itself. Available with laser engraving and now, with the iPod mini, in multiple colors, they are becoming fashion accessories.\n"It's a little unfortunate to me because I love music so much, but people do come in sometimes just for the cliché of having that fashion statement," Partridge says. "Just to say, 'Hey, I have the newest, best-looking MP3 player,' even if they don't use it a lot."\nBut iPods aren't the only fashion-conscious players out there. Ellis says his 14-year-old daughter likes her Yep player because it's "cute." He says he often sees customers taking fashion into account when deciding which player to buy.\n"I've seen a lot of people who will make the comment, 'Boy, this will match really well with what I usually wear to work out,'" Ellis says. \nFor those who do actually care about the music, storage capacity is a big selling point of MP3 players. For the size (MP3 players are usually about 2-3 ounces compared to a 1-pound CD player), there is much more space available on an MP3 player (about 300 songs on the lower-end models). And they're convenient. Once you get your music loaded onto the player, your entire music library is right at your fingertips and can be transported anywhere. \nSenior Tony Hansen now carries his entire music library on his Creative Nomad Jukebox 3. He says he made the CD to MP3 jump by "ripping" all of his 60-some CDs into MP3 format and downloading them to his Nomad.\n"I listen to more of the music that I own than I did before, because before I was constrained to carrying CDs with me," says Hansen. "So if I was going to go on vacation or something, I would take all of my CDs with me that I could because I would carry them in a big book. But now, I don't have to do anything. It's all right there on the MP3 player."\nMP3 provides the best in storage and portability, and can even spruce up your favorite outfit, but you've got to know how to use them to get all the benefits. Partridge says that most players on the market today are very user-friendly.\n"iRivers and iPods are very nice and very customer-friendly," he says. "They are very easy to use. As a consumer, you really have to know how to use the MP3 player, but most of the time they come with booklets that show you how."\nSophomore Beth Rosh didn't find her new iRiver to be that simple - definitely not as easy as throwing a CD in a player and hitting play.\n"I can't use it. I don't understand what's wrong," she says. "I loaded the software and I followed the directions in the book, and I'm not computer-illiterate, even though it may seem like I am, but I tried to download the music, and I can't."\nHansen also had problems with the packaged software for his Nomad when he first started using it. He said he had to use another program from Red Chair Software, Inc. called "Notmad" to get his player to work properly.\nMP3 players are affecting the music industry in other ways aside from increasing storage and portability. The file sharing and music downloading landscape is also being affected by the newfound popularity of this medium. You've got the hottest new player, no doubt you're going to be looking for hot new tunes to store on it. The question is, where are you going to look for this music?\nHansen claims that buying an MP3 player has gotten him more interested in downloading music and that he downloads more now than he ever has.\n"It's rekindled this urge to go get music," he says. "Before, even when the crazy MP3 downloading insanity was going on in the IU network, I wasn't doing that. I didn't download music like everybody else. I was still just buying CDs. Now, I wish I had done that so I would have all these songs."\nHansen says he now uses Apple's iTunes program to buy his MP3s online. iTunes is a program that allows users to buy individual songs for $.99 and entire albums for around $10. \n"I have to pay for it, but it's legal and I'm not going to get in trouble for it and I'm contributing to the music industry," he says.\nRosh has different plans.\n"I'll be downloading more," she says. "More illegalness. It's free. I can get it for free, as long as I'm careful."\nWithout a doubt, MP3 is going places. It seems that digital files stored on tiny hard drives will eventually take the place of the tried-and-true CD. Right now, fans of MP3 are finding less utility for their old CDs, mostly just for use in their cars until MP3 players become standard. And some, like Hansen, won't even miss the old CD.\n"Some people will argue that there's an intrinsic value to owning a CD. For me, though, I don't care as long as I can get (the album)," Hansen says. "I think people are reluctant. I think a lot of people are stuck on, 'I have all these CDs. It's going to take me a lot of time to put them into an MP3.'"\nAs someone who works around MP3 products all the time, Partridge, despite his love of his soon-to-be old-fashioned collection of 600 CDs, understands that resistance to the change is futile.\n"They're becoming a fashion statement, they're becoming more versatile to people who actually listen to music and they're becoming easier to use for people of all ages," he says. "The market for this particular type of media is expanding and unfortunately will probably take over the market for CDs"