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By Eliot Van Buskirk
In my five-plus years here at CNET, I have been completely blown away by exactly four new technologies. The first time occurred in the summer of 1997, when ex-CNET employee Geoffrey McCaleb and I exchanged messages on the fledgling ICQ instant-messaging network. We immediately had this euphoric feeling--much more common in those days--that communication had been forever changed. Then, in early 2000, Napster blew my mind again with its simple, powerful, P2P search technology. The Remote Solution Personal Jukebox and the Apple iPod tie for third; the former invented the hard drive-based MP3 player while the latter perfected it.
Senior editor, CNET Reviews (9/20/02) Last week, I experienced that same thrill yet again when I was testing the Archos Jukebox Multimedia 20. This all-in-one, portable, digital entertainment system has a 20GB hard drive, a color LCD, add-on modules, and a bunch of ports that have never before been combined on such a device. The result: A portable digital audio product that plays videos and takes photos. You can use the Multimedia 20 to download movies from the Internet and watch them either on the device's small screen or any television--all for the same price as the new iPod. One of the best ways to test a portable player is to commute with it. So there I sat on the subway, watching a German version of The Simpsons on the Multimedia 20's little color screen and listening to the dialogue in MP3 format. When I noticed the San Francisco Chronicle on an adjacent seat, I decided to switch the Archos to music mode and have a read. What I saw almost made me shoot coffee through my nose. There, on the front of the Technology section, was Henry Norr's column, with the subtitle "Users wait for a way to send digital content from PC to TVs and stereos." The irony was palpable; as I read that article, I held in my hand a device that did exactly that without even requiring much technical savvy. Furthermore, CNET has reviewed so many products that send digital audio from a PC to a stereo that we had to create an entirely new category for these digital audio receivers (DARs) in our products database. To be fair, these DARs have not been selling particularly fast, partially due to consumer confusion about what they do. But I think that Norr vastly underestimates the number of people who have already run a simple $5 RadioShack cable between their PC's sound card and their stereo's auxiliary input, as well as the number of folks who have TV outputs already installed on their computers. Consumers aren't waiting for an engraved invitation to watch downloaded movies on their TVs, even though Hollywood would love to make them wait for one. Norr's column went on to describe how the major players are all waiting on the sidelines, while the users that they're ignoring are unable to connect their PCs to their stereos and televisions. But the following heavy hitters have all released DARs: Motorola, HP (which Norr does mention), Turtle Beach, Onkyo, Yamaha, Sonicblue, Gateway, Philips, and Harman Kardon. So in terms of video convergence products, Norr is generally right--the big players are indeed waiting for Congress to give them approval to control what we do with video content before they bridge the gap between PCs and TVs. But I don't think that consumers are going to wait, not when companies such as Archos are already giving them what they want. Over the next year or so, I expect a rash of video-enabled portable entertainment devices to hit the market. It'll be interesting to see which gadgets consumers choose: devices such as the Multimedia 20, which let you do whatever you want wherever you are, or devices that most likely include some sort of onerous copyright protection, such as the one that Sony folks alluded to in a recent call to me. Regardless of which companies end up controlling this new category, it's time to brace yourselves--the video version of the MP3 revolution is underway, and it could be as unkind to the big companies as the portable digital-audio market has been to them. For the moment, Archos has the front-runner with its groundbreaking Multimedia 20. You probably need one.  MP3 Nugget: Test your sound card(s)
More and more people are using computers as the hub of their stereo system, so it only stands to reason that people value DARs and quality sound cards more than ever. But how do you know whether your sound card is good enough? Easy--just download RightMark Audio Analyzer, a freeware sound-card tester, and set it loose on your system. This program tracks down any sound cards that are installed on your machine--including external USB DARs such as Creative's Extigy--and runs a variety of test tones through them. The app then gives you the following numbers for each sound card: frequency response and dynamic range (higher numbers are better for these); noise level; total harmonic distortion, intermodulation distortion; and stereo cross-talk (lower numbers are better for this). Downloading, installing, and running the program takes about two minutes, and like all other MP3 Nugget software, it's absolutely free to use.
 Download RightMark Audio Analyzer
Senior Editor Eliot Van Buskirk covers portable audio and music-related issues for CNET Reviews. Have a question for him? Let him know!   CEO says P2P not immoralIn a recent speech, the head of the Consumer Electronics Associations lambasted the record industry for making file sharers ashamed of themselves. CNET News.com's story  Gluing things shutEpic Records sent promo copies of two new albums to reviewers in glued-shut CD Walkmans to prevent their leakage to file-sharing networks. Ironically, such a stunt stifles any free, advance promotion that leakage might have brought the releases. The New York Times' story (free subscription required) New uses for musicThe transit cops in Boston have started blasting music objectionable to the youth--sprightly Sousa marches, for example--in areas that they don't want the kids to be. Reuters's article on Excite.com Move your feet!I love these weird little animated music videos that people are churning out these days. Here's one of the latest that I've run across, featuring a disco squirrel and impeccable timing between the animation and the music. Turn up those speakers and click the link. Move your feet, on the Prince-of-dorkness site Artists stand up to labelsMost recording artists are locked into unfair contracts. They don't like that very much and are starting to organize, in order to bite the hand that bleeds them. USA Today's article More bastard popThe practice of combining songs and otherwise manipulating recordings to occasionally comedic effect continues, as evidenced by this gossip item about a Celine Dion mash-up. Salon.com's column
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