Slotmusic, do you think it will work?

Just saw this today curious to see what others think.

Slotmusic website

Slotmusic press release

ONly if it’s priced right- ie Much Cheaper than CDs.

Awhile back you could buy albums on regular SD cards and I remember seeing an Aerosmith SD album in the clearance rack for like $2

And they were there for a Long Time…

Most mp3 players don’t have a card slot. A Slotmusic player would imo be much more appealing if it had the sound quality of the Clip, a display, and a clip on the back of it. I find the use of a AAA battery very appealing though.

Having players with 2 or more card slots would be cool.

Hello Group

Dressed up gimmick. This concept is nothing new. I posted a comment in the Sansa slotmusic player Forum.

I agree with AutobahnSHO Price!

Here is a link for a “not so fancy” one of these http://www.geardiary.com/2006/12/26/the-brando-usb-mp3-player-sdmmc-card-reader-review/ Check out the date - 12/06!

Here is a link for a juiced up one http://www.emtec-international.com/en/produit.php?categorie=AVNOM&gamme=LECTEURS%20MP3&ss_gamme=C205 Download the pdf manual.

Amazon UK was selling the Emtec as far back as May 2007. I am trying to get my hands on one. If it supports higher than 2 GB, had a user equalizer setting, and played OGG Vorbis, I would give my other mp3 players away as gifts. This is exactly what I have been searching for.

Maybe teenagers would buy the Sansa Slotmusic Player, I really do not know, as I prefer the freedom of putting my own “stuff” on a card. Maybe that is Sansa’s target market. If so, I wish them best of luck! (seriously)

My question is why on a 1GB micro sd card? Are these new recordings in lossless format? I can see paying $14- for that rather than someone elses idea of a lossy codec.

As AutobahnSHO mentioned, he has seen this approach with SD cards, which makes more sense. 10-12 songs mp3, what do you need 256mb for memory? 

Well drlucky, you asked :smileyvery-happy:

Regards

Mike

Apparently the music on the cards are 320kbps mp3s and the cards are not write protected so you can add what ever you want to the free space.

Message Edited by drlucky on 10-27-2008 01:23 PM

A low priced AAA battery based player would be good for the gym, the beach, and any other place where an mp3 player could easily be damaged or broken. Having it without a display though, and with sound quality lower than the Clip, and without a Clip on the back imo doesn’t make much sense. Sandisk, how about a AAA battery version of the Clip with a card slot?

Imo Slotmusic players have much more potential than selling music on micro SD cards. Most people prefer buying music on CDs and making mp3 or WMA files at the bitrate they desire. Others might want to use FLAC or OGG.

How about some more interesting Slotmusic players that are audio only(no video) and have slots for 2 or cards.

Perhaps if a player has 2 card slots, one could swap one card while listening to music on the other, and have the files from the removed card deleted from the directory and files from a newly inserted card added to the directory while a card that has stayed in the player keeps playing. With this seamless swapping of cards, and no interruption in the music while swapping cards, one could get much more functionality from a player.

I just can’t see the slot nusic player taking off at this time. Maybe in the future but now is too soon for it to be released. Just my opnion…

Maybe if they advertise it as more then just using prebought music.  Music you have and put on a card OR music you can buy on a card.

I wonder if this is also to compete with the ipod shuffle.  Although the shaker seems like it is suppose to complete more, but not available in stores (I think).


JK98 wrote

Imo Slotmusic players have much more potential than selling music on micro SD cards. Most people prefer buying music on CDs and making mp3 or WMA files at the bitrate they desire. Others might want to use FLAC or OGG.


Only if you’re computer literate would you prefer putting music onto your device to change things around.  I am fairly computer literate but still dont’ understand most of that stuff.  I’m not even interested in FLAC or OGG because it seems above my head (maybe it’s not, but I haven’t ventured into it).  I just put a CD in my computer, rip it, sync it to my Fuze.  A few times I’ve changed a few tags (especially if it’s a religious one that WMP can’t find, then I change the artiest, etc), but mostly just load it on.

But I’m still not sure if the little cards with music will take off.  I think people need to get use to the idea first.  The Fuze is a great step, since it’s very popular.  Most people don’t even realize you can get a player with a card slot.

I did see these at walmart.  I didn’t look too close.  But they have a pretty big display of them. 

Message Edited by Dalaug234 on 12-18-2008 04:27 PM

I was at another store (shopko) and looking at the MP3 players as they had a few that weren’t behind the counter.  I didn’t see this one, but they had 2 other brands that used the card slot.   So maybe others are coming around to this idea of external memory.  I think one was a 1gb and $30 (can’t remember, I just looked quick, might have been a 2gb but doubtful).  Of course if the cards don’t come down in price in the stores and they stock them in larger quantities, then it won’t take off.  The Walmart by me has one micro card, a 2gb sandisk $18 or so. 

It will never fly Orville! Music industry will never price it down enough. Sticks to easy to lose. Will go the route of DataPlay.

The Clip has set the standard for small players. Next gen Clip with a uSD slot and Slotmusic is doomed. I think most people want to carry a single uSD in their players with most of their content used without swapping.

And of course, if that does come to pass, then SanDisk has hedged their bet with the introduction of the 16GB micro-SDHC card (and plans for larger cards in the future).

Isn’t that called ‘playing both ends against the middle’? :wink:

I think Slot Music Is FREAKIN GENIUS! Genius in the sense that it too will cater to a niche market like all Sansa’s other products. My Cell phone has a mico slot and I bought the Hendrix one from Best Buy and put it in my phone and now I have a bunch of different hendrix ringtones. I can swap them out in my Fuze or my new slot player. When The Compilation music industry gets in the game then I think you will see a bit of a jump, Think about it 20 different songs from 20 different artist that I can play in a bunch of different players. Also in our Eco obsessed world, this is the eco friendly thing you can reuse it unlike CDs which are made and then they sit.

Did you see the Slotradio player? At least it has a display. It has a built in battery, a radio, and limited navigation ability. It doesn’t seem to make sense though. It is $100 with a Slotradio card included. The 1,000 song Slotradio cards will sell for $40. They work on the Fuze as well. The Fuze has much more functionality, and with a Slotradio card isn’t that much more than the Slotradio player with card bundle. Imo this could have been a good concept if the player had a more basic screen(LCD?) ,was powered by a AA or AAA battery, and was priced lower(perhaps under $50 with a 500 song Slotradio card included?) The Slotradio cards seem expensive at $40 for 1,000 songs(Not exactly an impulse purchase). Cards with 500 songs priced at $20 or less seems much more reasonable.  $20 seems like a much better price point than $40.

Message Edited by JK98 on 01-07-2009 08:53 PM

This SlotRadio player mystifies me. I like the fact that it has a clip, and a display. I would be curious to find out the capacity of the bundled card and the bitrate of the songs that are on it. From what I can tell, however, you may be able to choose a genre of sorts with the bundled card, and skip songs…but how much navigation will be available with a card a user may already own? What kind of sound quality and battery life can be expected? It is certainly not what I think would have been the right thing to debut on the day before the CES.

This article says 1,000 songs. It doesn’t mention a bitrate, or battery life. Imo this is too expensive, and the Slotradio cards would have been much better as 500 songs for under $20. $40 is not an impulse purchase. What is really need is a Slotmusic player with sound quality equal to the Clip, a basic display(perhaps LCD?), powered by a AAA battery, and without the USB connectivity(and perhaps without FM radio?) for $30-35.

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10132002-100.html

Message Edited by JK98 on 01-07-2009 10:59 PM

@jk98 wrote:

This article says 1,000 songs. It doesn’t mention a bitrate, or battery life. Imo this is too expensive, and the Slotradio cards would have been much better as 500 songs for under $20. $40 is not an impulse purchase. What is really need is a Slotmusic player with sound quality equal to the Clip, a basic display(perhaps LCD?), powered by a AAA battery, and without the USB connectivity(and perhaps without FM radio?) for $30-35.

 

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10132002-100.html

 

 

Message Edited by JK98 on 01-07-2009 10:59 PM

Agreed but leave the USB connectivity on, possibly to plug my Sandisk flash drive full of music into.

 The USB connection is just for charging, and a wall charger is included. The Fuze is a much better option than this player.

@jk98 wrote:

 The USB connection is just for charging, and a wall charger is included. The Fuze is a much better option than this player.

Didnt know… I jsut got my Slot music tonight, and havent used it yet.

"

Didnt know… I jsut got my Slot music tonight, and havent used it yet."

The USB is on the Slotradio player, not the Slotmusic player. The Slotmusic player is powered by a AAA battery, while the Slotradio player has a built in battery. I would like to see a Slotmusic player with a basic LCD display that is on all the time while the player is playing.

@jk98 wrote:
"

Didnt know… I jsut got my Slot music tonight, and havent used it yet."

 

The USB is on the Slotradio player, not the Slotmusic player. The Slotmusic player is powered by a AAA battery, while the Slotradio player has a built in battery. I would like to see a Slotmusic player with a basic LCD display that is on all the time while the player is playing.

I mis read… I noticed that when I opend the player today… I thought that seemed funny… My BAD