MPMan

{{Short description|Late 1990s portable solid state digital audio player}}

File:Mpman logo.gif

File:MpMan mp-f60.jpg

The MPMan music player, manufactured by the South Korean company SaeHan Information Systems, debuted in Asia in March 1998, and was the first mass-produced portable solid state digital audio player.

The internal flash memory could be expanded, but there was no support for external memory. It was delivered with a docking station. To put music into the device, the music first had to be encoded in the mp3 format by an encoder provided by the user, and then transferred via the parallel port to the docking station that connected to the portable player device.[http://akiba-pc.watch.impress.co.jp/hotline/980501/mpman.html impress.co.jp - The impact created a problem!? mp3 player portable "mpman" launched]

On {{nowrap|2 May 1998}} in Japan the Akihabara "Akibaoo~" stores in Chūō, Tokyo started selling {{nowrap|32 MB}} and {{nowrap|64 MB}} models, the prices of which were {{nowrap|39 800 yen}} (circa {{nowrap|400 USD}} - today ${{Inflation|US|400|1998|r=2}}) and {{nowrap|59 800 yen}}, respectively.

In North America, the South Korean device was first imported for sale by Michael Robertson's {{nowrap|Z Company}}{{cite news |publisher=MTV.com |url=https://www.mtv.com/news/z5rjtd/mpman-threatens-conventional-record-business |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810200407/https://www.mtv.com/news/z5rjtd/mpman-threatens-conventional-record-business |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 10, 2022 |accessdate=August 26, 2012 |title=MPMan Threatens Conventional Record Business |last1=Kaufman |first1=Gil |last2=Nelson |first2=Chris |date=Apr 5, 1998}} in mid-1998. Around the same time, Eiger Labs, Inc. imported and rebranded the player in two models, the Eiger MPMan F10, and Eiger MPMan F20.{{cite web |url=http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6450_7-5622055-1.html |title=Introducing the world's first MP3 player |last=Van Buskirk |first=Eliot |date=January 21, 2005 |accessdate=May 2, 2011}}

Owners could upgrade the memory from {{nowrap|32 MB}} to {{nowrap|64 MB}} by sending the player back to {{nowrap|Eiger Labs}} with a cheque for {{nowrap|69 + 7.95 USD shipping}}. A compact device, it measured {{nowrap|90 mm}} tall by {{nowrap|70 mm}} wide by {{nowrap|16.5 mm}} thick and weighed a little over {{nowrap|65 grams}}.

The US price in 1998 for the F10 model with {{nowrap|32 MB}} flash memory was circa {{nowrap|200 - 250 USD}}.{{citation needed|date=December 2015}}

The {{nowrap|Eiger MPMan F20}} was a similar model that used {{nowrap|3.3 V}} SmartMedia cards for expansion, and ran on a single AA battery, instead of rechargeable NiMH batteries.