Everytime a new digital music technology comes out, it seems like the recording industry lines up to beat it backwards. VCR's, Digital Audio Tape, online audio... so far the music and recording industry has fought just about every innovation... usually because they are concerned about people pirating CD's and tapes. So when the recording industry heard about a cool new handheld portable technology called the Rio, they tried -- and failed -- to get a federal judge to stop its production and distribution.

The Rio is an innovative new Sony Walkman-like portable music player... it plays back digital audio files you download from your home computer or the internet. You can store an hour's worth of songs inside the Rio, and you can buy memory cards to store songs on... these act just like cassette tapes.

Its pretty simple to create these music mixes... if you have a CD-ROM drive in your computer, you simply use the software that comes with the Rio to pull songs from the CD onto the hard drive of your computer. They're stored on your hard drive in a format called MP3... and in fact, you don't need the Rio to listen to them at your desk. But with the click of a few buttons, you can then move those music files into the Rio, unplug the cord, plug in the headphones and listen to your songs while you work out or ski or bike or jog... whatever. There is no skipping as there is with portable CD players and no warbling tapes like a cassette player. And the sound is great... about the same as a CD.

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MP3 files have become perhaps the most common way to store high quality digital audio online. But while the high quality appeals to consumers, the potential for making illegal high quality digital copies of copyrighted music has the recording industry shaking. There are thousands of legal audio files online and you can make legal copies of your own CD's for personal use; however, there are even more *illegal* sound files on web sites around the globe. These illegal sites are being shut down constantly, but in theory, you could download entire albums for free.

While the recording industry attacked the Rio player for allegedly allowing people to make and spread illegal copies, the fact is the Rio isn't a terribly good way to accomplish this goal. For example, an extra storage card that can store an hour's worth of music costs about $100, far more expensive than even the priciest compact disc. If you are going to pirate music, the Rio's not the way to do it. It's cheaper to buy a recordable CD-ROM drive and record your own CD's -- technology that's been available for years.

The Rio fits in the palm of your hand... costs about $200 including enough memory for 60 minutes of music, plus the cables and software for a Windows PC. Diamond Multimedia, the makers of the Rio, say you'll be able to buy one online and in retail stores by the end of the month. You can buy additional memory cards for between 50 and 100 dollars.

Is the Rio worth getting? Well, it certainly breaks new ground, and definitely fits in the "cool new technology" category. If you can live with the 1 hour recording limit, it'll be great, especially for those who are annoyed by skipping CD players and warbly tapes. More importantly, it opens up the possibility of even more kinds of portable audio devices that consumers can customize easily. The Rio is the future of portable music -- even if the music industry hates to hear it.

---links---

Diamond Multimedia Rio Home Page

RIAA Home Page