Are Stand-Alone MP3 Players Needed?
Over the past year or two, I have noticed that – at least as far as I can tell – there is absolutely no reason to have a stand-alone music player. As, Alton Brown says about kitchen aids, you shouldn’t buy a one use item.
Cell phones are so powerful these days that they are able to do much more than a MP3 player, and are roughly the same price (or cheaper after new customer / upgrade discounts). Also, many modern cell phones can access the Internet from anywhere using the cellular towers to stream music from online services.
Among these services are many options that I use frequently and would hate to not have available. Last.fm which can not only play streaming music, but also note your listening statistics and recommend new music based on your history. Pandora plays tracks based on songs or artists that sound similar to songs that you have liked in the past; this differs from Last.fm in that Pandora’s recommendations are based on similarity, while Last.fm’s are based on what other user’s like.
There are also other listening options available to phones that special purpose music players do not have. Some phone service providers have their own radio application that will play a number of themed stations (i.e. rock, classical, etc.). Also, many local radio stations broadcast online and can be listened to via mobile phones with Internet connectivity.
Besides just listening to music on a device, phone offer other music related services that MP3 players do not possess. Using Shazam, you can find out what song is playing on the radio, at a restaurant, or your obnoxious neighbor’s car stereo at 2:00 am. Artist, song, album, and touring information can be lookup up in Wikipedia, the artist’s site, Ticketmaster, etc. which is not possible on most MP3 players, especially when away from a Wi-Fi signal.
Even at what music player’s do well, modern phones normally win out. For instance, phones can normally store more tracks than music players. The screens on many phones are larger than those of many music players as well; admittedly, this could also be labelled as a win for MP3 players depending on if readability or form-factor is your concern.
And, in my opinion, most importantly having fewer devices means I have less to carry around, keep track of, and purchase. I do not foresee music players being mass marketed in another five years. Apple already makes a phone that has the capabilities of its music players and their sales are increasing now that they are on more networks. Many other phone companies do not make music players, and there is no reason for them to branch into this market. What are your thoughts?