Introduction

With the possible exception of a couple of supremely awkward years in junior high, I was fairly entertained by the eighties. I have the full collection of brat pack movies and a shameful affinity for techno music to prove it. However, as much as I enjoyed the eighties I'm happy to see that one technology that originated in the eighties is slowly, (ever so slowly) trundling its way out the door. Compact disks were great in their day, but let's be honest: the CD has outlived its usefulness.

Most of us have already switched exclusively to compressed audio formats - such as MP3, AAC and WMA - for listening to music on the go. In fact, unless you've been living under a rock for the last few years, you probably have a hard drive full of MP3s.

Unfortunately, according to market research firm Parks Associates, most of us still choose to haul out our collection of CDs when we want to get our groove on in the comfort of our own living rooms. They found that 40 percent of households play music files on their computers and 33 percent of households that are connected to the Internet listen to Internet radio. Out of all of these people, only a slim 10 percent are playing all of this music through their main stereo systems.

Now CDs are fine, but their quality advantage over MP3s doesn't make up for the pain of using them. They skip, they scratch, and they have a limited capacity of at most 15-20 songs per disk. On the other hand, MP3s are easy to manage, they don't skip, the "lossless" versions can produce excellent sound quality, and most importantly your whole music library is at your fingertips.

Fortunately, Logitech has developed a slick little wireless system designed to bridge the gap between our computers and our main stereos. It's called the Wireless DJ music system; let's see how it shapes up.

Tags: Logitech, Media Player,

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