A Stereo That's Small and Digital

"Sony's latest gamble is a case in point: a bookshelf stereo system called the CMT-L7HD. (All right, so Sony ran out of ideas when it came time to name this thing.) Its ingenious mission is to bring the convenience of digital music files to an everyday bookshelf system — without requiring a computer.

Every time you play a CD, the machine automatically copies its tracks onto its built-in 20-gigabyte hard drive. (If time is of the essence, you can also dump an entire CD to the hard drive in 20 minutes using a silent copying mode.) Thereafter, you can play back those songs without having to insert the original CD. The hard drive holds 300 CD's worth of music, turning this handsome unit into a self-contained jukebox.

Now, stackable stereo components that copy CD's to an internal hard drive aren't new. Sony's twist is to build this feature into a self-contained, bookshelf-size mini stereo with detachable speakers (and even an optional mounting bracket for the wall). Furthermore, those earlier machines don't even approach the L7HD's sound quality or fashion sense — or high price. The suggested list price for the L7HD is $1,000....

You can create up to 10 playlists (hand-picked song collections from any albums in any order) — one for dinnertime, another for hot dates, and so on. The system also keeps your most recently played 20 albums only a couple of button presses away.

The unit's ability to save audio onto its hard drive is not limited to CD's, either. It can just as easily store the music on your tapes or even vinyl records, thanks to the analog and digital audio inputs on the back, or even from the built-in radio. (The L7HD stores audio in Sony's own Atrac3 format rather than the more common MP3 format. But since you can copy music only onto the hard drive, never off it, the storage format makes no practical difference.)

Indeed, you can program the timer to record certain radio shows automatically, including on a daily or weekly schedule, so that they are ready to play whenever you feel like listening to them (or pausing, rewinding or fast-forwarding them). If you've ever used a TiVo or ReplayTV digital video recorder, you're no doubt smacking your forehead in recognition: In effect, Sony has created the world's first TiVo for radio....

Even M-crew, however, doesn't let you copy MP3 files from your PC to the L7HD — no surprise, really, when you consider that Sony is also a record company with a vested interest in stifling the casual trading of MP3 music. (The only way to transfer MP3 files is to play them on your PC, in real time, as the L7HD records them.) But that's O.K. The very act of connecting the L7HD to a PC somehow violates the purity of this stereo's conception as a self-contained, PC-free jukebox.

If its looks, sound and concept were the end of the story, the L7HD would be a home run. But how many people will pay $1,000 for a bookshelf system destined for the kitchen, bedroom or office?" [New York Times: Technology]

The NYT doesn't understand the implications of those last two paragraphs. The fact that I can't play my MP3s on the L7HD is most definitely NOT okay. For $1000, this thing should act like a wireless jukebox, not a standalone record player. Am I really supposed to pay the labels for access to their Celestial Jukebox and NOT be able to play it on my bookshelf system? Where's the point in that? If Sony started an online music service (I can't even keep track of them anymore - have they?), it would be unusable on this system!

I understand that Sony is too scared to put an ethernet port or embedded WiFi in this thing (every other record label would probably line up to sue them), but it's short-sighted because no one is really going to buy this paperweight. Why would I when I don't even buy CDs anymore? This is as useful as a TiVo that handles cable networks but not local broadcast channels.

Normally I would be excited about this kind of device and I'd be shelling out money to be an early adopter, but it's a perfect example of how the industry is trying to shut us in a box and immobilize content at a time when consumers want more content and to take it with them.

I'm a Sony fan (digital camera, TVs, stereo), but this is a betamax product and they've missing the window to be the first entry in the field. Let's hope they make the next generation of this device usable as well as desirable.

If you can believe it, Good Housekeeping has some cutting edge content in the current August 2002 issue. Of course, it's all in the ads, but what a shift it reflects:

Page 13 - "Some refrigerators organize your food. This one can organize your life. Introducing the new LG Internet Refrigerator. It allows you to manage your calendar, download new recipes, watch the evening news, and even buy groceries - right from a touch-screen panel in the door.... To learn more about LG home appliances... visit www.LGappliances.com."

Page 15 - "A new ***** is just what you need to feel better about shopping online. Safeguard your online Visa purchases with Verified by Visa - a service that helps protect Visa cards from unauthorized online use with a personal Verified by Visa password [*****]. Once activated, your password will be recognized when a purchase is made at participating online stores. No password, no Visa purchase. It's that simple. To register your card and check your eligibility, go to www.visa.com/verified today. Now you don't miss out on the convenience of shopping online."

Pages 49-51 - "Consumer Research Results: 95% of adults said it was unlike anything they'd ever seen. 90% of adults said it was an engineering masterpiece. 3% of adults thought it contained blush or lip gloss....

Introducing Discover 2GO: Flip it out of its protective case to use it. Comes with a money clip, a key chain, and the same account number as your regular Discover Card. And every time you use it, you get a Cashback bonus award, along with a lot of envious stares and questions. For more information, please... visit Discovercard.com."

So what do we have here? Pages that advertise the internet embedded in your main kitchen appliance, credit card protection for online shopping, and the new mini-Discover Card that you can carry around on your keychain. They're all selling modern convenience the same way they sell dishwasher detergent and diapers. I did a double-take when I saw the ad for the LG refrigerator because it's the first time I've seen it mentioned in a mainstream magazine aimed at women, implying that it's actually ready for prime-time and available for sale.

I think it would be interesting to go back and trace the evolution of ads for internet-based products, along with the curve for adding URLs to general ads. I think the first one I ever saw with a URL was a TV commercial for a car company, and I did a double-take then, too. Now we've got the internet refrigerator ad in Good Housekeeping. They don't have to sell the internet anymore - they can sell the convenience it offers because we've accepted its ubiquitous nature.

This is why libraries have to shift to become more portable and convenient. If people are ordering milk via their refrigerators because they don't have time to actually visit the grocery store that day, how do you expect them to make time to come into your library? We need to adapt quickly and then advertise that convenience and portability. There's no reason that credit card shopping should be easier than using your library card online.

Note to LG: bad move to make your main page completely Flash-based with no alternatives - I can't see it!!! And on a side note, check out the following ad:

Page 7 - "She's not your typical librarian. Laura Sophiea, 46, 2001 World Champion Masters Triathlete, full-time librarian, mother of three, and loyal Mack's Earplugs user." Oddly, there is no URL listed in the ad.