When I first started running a few decades ago, I liked to listen to music while outside, giving me some relief and distraction from the sometimes-boring miles I was putting down.\u00a0 Believe it or not, I started with a Sony Walkman, a cassette player, strapped around my waist in a neoprene holder, earbud cable poking out of the back. When the cassette gave way to CD-ROM, I tried those, but the bouncing of the running movement made it impossible to track music smoothly. Then came mp3s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technically, mp3 is a shortened form of MPEG-3, the Motion Picture Experts Group standard (3) for coding digital audio (see: https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/MP3<\/a> ). It has become the ubiquitous format for audio files. Pretty much everywhere (there are other formats, but they aren’t the subject of this post). A whole new industry took off, with pocket-sized devices designed to store and play audio files. “Mp3 players” they were called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fast-forward (you can read my previous post if you want more background on my experience). The state of mp3 players is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster, in my opinion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I am about to return the third — yes, third — mp3 player I bought to replace an iPod that finally gave up the ghost. All three were manufactured by different vendors (although they’re Chinese, so maybe not). This last one, a SanDisk Clip Sport Plus<\/a>, I thought was going to be the winner. Each device I’ve bought has cost a bit more. The SanDisk tipped the scales at $50. And I didn’t buy it through Amazon<\/a>. 16GB of storage, Bluetooth, and FM radio. All of the features I wanted in a portable music player. And I’ve been quite satisfied with other SanDisk products I’ve bought!<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the third time, I waited for delivery, then removed it from its shipping container, plugged it in to charge it, and then plugged it into my computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, even though the box and SanDisk’s web site claim it’s compatible with macOS X 10.3 and higher, I’m always a bit skeptical. However, I have two Macs, and neither would see the device, I decided to take it to work and plug it into a Windows PC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s when it all went south. No device recognized there, either. Sigh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve sent an email to SanDisk and to Adorama<\/a>, where I purchased it. SanDisk says they will “get back to me,” and Adorama says they’ll contact me regarding a return. This is where Amazon shines — they’ll take an item back without question. Yes, it’s going back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is really the last time I’m trying this. I have an iPhone, I have an Apple Watch, and I have several iPod Shuffles. Neither the watch nor the Shuffles will hold 16GB, but I’m just going to have to play “swap the files” when I want to update the music on them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m so disappointed in the state of manufacturing these days. I think the time of carrying a portable music player are going the way of the Dodo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The God of the Universe apparently doesn’t want me to have a new mp3 player. I rarely get upset about things, but this is one of those times when I’ve just about reached my limit.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve been around long enough … Continue reading ![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.sandisk.com\/content\/dam\/sandisk-main\/en_us\/assets\/product\/retail\/ClipSportPlus_red_front.png\")
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