I propose an mp3 player with no memory, but a USB port (like the type on computers, not the type on devices) that I can plug a USB flash drive into. It would be very small, since it would be using the memory from my USB drive. It would have drivers for most major USB drive brands. When you plug the USB drive in, the mp3 player searches for audio files on the drive, and creates an index. The power for the drive is supplied by the battery in the mp3 player.

I know that there are USB drives with mp3 players built in, but this would be different. I could show other people my music by simply plugging your USB drive into someone else's music player. The players shouldn't be very expensive, because they don't have memory.
-- -----, May 20 2005

Pretty Much Baked http://www.lexar.com/mp3/jg_mp3.html
Lexar JumpGear MP3 (uses Lexar JumpDrive Thumb drives) [Jawzx, May 20 2005]

Illustration http://img215.echo....bmp3pendrive3ty.gif
The thing on the end is the mp3 player. [-----, May 21 2005]

[jawsx] Read the idea carefully. I talked about that.
-- -----, May 21 2005


They do this with SD and Compact Flash cards in devices.
-- contracts, May 21 2005


I know they use CompactFlash and SD cards, I mean a USB drive. USB drives are different, because they don't need a reader. Note that this idea is called a _USB_ drive mp3 player, not a CF or SD card player.
-- -----, May 21 2005


There are lots of USB memory/MP3 player combinations about, but I have yet to see one that follows the design detailed here.

It may be that nobody has thought of it or it could be that the combination solution is easier to implement or provides a superior solution.

The problems that spring to my mind are these:
Power — USB interfaces have specified line voltages which will, no doubt be higher that driving memory directly. You will therefore have a shorter battery life by using the USB interface between your player and its memory.
Charging — Since the battery is in the player and not the stick, you miss out on the ability to charge your mp3 player while you're transferring music to it; somthing that has made the iPod shuffle and similar devices very popular.
Shape — Assuming that this device is to work with any USB memory drive, you can make no assumptions about the shape of the memory drive that you're going to attach. You're therefore going to end up with what might be a very ugly device and one that might pull apart quite easily since you can't add a latch without losing the ability to add *any* memory stick.
-- st3f, May 21 2005


Thanks for pointing out the title. I don't know how I missed that. [-]
-- contracts, May 21 2005


I've got a car stereo that allows me to plug in my usb flash drive ($129 from Best Buy) and it plays the mp3s on the drive. I would love to be able to get out of the car and use another device to play the rest of the mp3s. I frequently listen to podcasts during my commute and being able to easily rotate files on a thumb drive is essential to podcast listening.
-- HogHunter, Mar 28 2006



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