MP3 players utilize the type of music files known simply as MP3s. MP3s were developed in the early '90s as a means of compressing audio files. The files were compressed by effectively eliminating parts of the audio that were considered negligible to most listeners. Thus, some would argue that MP3s are of a lower audio quality than larger music files, but to most listeners there's really not much of a difference. The great thing about MP3s is that you can fit a ton of them in very little hard drive space. Thus, a new breed of portable music devices was born, i.e., the MP3 player. MP3 players come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but they are distinguished by being quite a bit smaller than a portable cassette tape or CD player, and they can hold many times the amount of music. There are two basic types of MP3 players. There are flash MP3 players and hard drive MP3 players. Flash-type players were the original type of MP3 player, and they still have some great qualities. For example, flash MP3 players have an extremely long battery life. There aren't any physically moving parts inside to use of battery life, so it is not uncommon to find flash players that last 20 to 30 hours on just two AA batteries. Hard drive MP3 players followed closely on the heels of their flash cousins, and they offer a few distinct advantages. First and foremost, hard-drive-style MP3 players can hold infinitely more music. There are 60 GB versions that hold a whopping 15,000 songs. Newer hard drive MP3 players also come with a host of bells and whistles, including photo storage capacity, games, and the ability to play audio books.
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