This is the first in a multi-part series. Additional segments are available here.
We live in an interesting age full of mind-numbing technical advancements and funny contradictions.
It’s ironic in this computer age with corporate predictors saying that low-voltage audio information appliances are the next big thing that a completely mechanical device consisting of a platform, a stick and two wheels was just as popular as one of the most sophisticated computers ever developed.
Another interesting contradiction is being able to obtain audio off the Internet from thousands of different sources, being able to store hours of full-bandwidth audio in a low-cost Web access device, with no moving parts, not much bigger than a package of gum, only to have it sound not much better than your best friend next door yelling at you through a tin can and waxed string.
Okay, it’s not that bad. But it can be a lot better.
Let’s look at the class of low-voltage audio devices called Information (or Internet, both are used interchangeably) appliances (IA), and let’s define them as anything connected to the Internet other than a PC that includes audio. Things like:
• Digital Audio Players
• Smart Phones
• Automotive & Home audio players
• Digital Cameras and Camcorders
• PDA ‘s
• Internet Radio and Cinema
• Internet Game Consoles
Speech-recognition is also included in, well, all of these.
