Odds are, you take your iPod or Zune for granted. You probably don't think about the crazy technological advancements we've made, but take a ten-year look back at the world's first MP3 player -- the MPMan F10 -- and you'll get a sense of just how far we've come. Manufactured by Korea's Saehan Information Systems, the device was launched in March of 1998 at CeBIT, and went on sale in the Summer through Eiger Labs for $250. The player featured 32MB of flash memory (which could be upgraded to 64MB via mail-in scheme), connected to PCs via parallel port, and had a miniscule LCD for playback info -- but it laid the groundwork for the tech we have today. Following the MPMan's release, Rio unleashed its PMP300, which received a warmer reception and all-but eclipsed the F10's status as "first" amongst players, likely due to the company's well-known (and groundbreaking) legal battle against the RIAA. Still, first is first, so help keep the MPMan's rich history alive, and celebrate its ten-year anniversary this month with campfire songs and story-telling. Check out the archived read link of the original Eiger Labs site for a wild and wacky trip through time.

[Via Register Hardware]

Normally we'd let run-of-the-mill PMPs like Pasen's F10 pass on by, but we just had to stop and call out the blatant use of both the iTunes and WMP icons here -- even given Pasen's history, that's just a little much. Come on guys, the F10 looks like a solid little player -- 2.6-inch 400 x 240 display, MP3 / AAC / FLAC / DivX / XviD / RMVB support, just 0.2 inches thick -- why not actually try and let it compete, instead of saddling it with the trappings of irrelevant KIRFdom? Ugh, we have to go lie down.

[Via PMP Today]