I Built My Own Audio Player

I was hoping the article was going to be about a physical device as well as the software to manage and play songs. A few years ago I wanted to get my 10 year old son an mp3 player – he's really into listening to music but wasn't ready (still isn't) for a phone. I was shocked by the state of the mp3 player options. When Apple discontinued the iPod they created a huge vacuum that no one seems to have filled.

I think the iPos shuffle (usb stick form) is still the best mp3 player I ever had – it was small, pluggable without extra cords, and battery lasted a really long time. It didn't have a screen to browse music but that was part of the idea – just let the shuffle do its thing. Even this relatively simple concept has not been replicated in the hardware market.

People will say it's not a hardware problem but a software/drm issue. I think that's a real shame. I wish there were a good, inexpensive, portable device that would just play my music.

Sony still makes very nice players - under the "walkman" brand no less. https://electronics.sony.com/audio/walkman-digital-recorders... . Probably too pricey for a 10-y-old child, but you might be able to find a used one on ebay?

This are just dumbed down phones in a sense: I don't want my mp3 player to be running android. I want a minimal piece of software that lets me quickly navigate to the songs that I want, and physical buttons to do it. I've look long and hard for something like this and cannot for the life of me find it. I'm really sad that I lost my Ipod classic 10 years ago.