The most infuriating thing I have found when showing off the Empeg to freinds is that once they have gotten over the Graphics, (about ten minutes) they start asking for particular songs. Mainly the top twenty songs, which i invariably don't have yet. Then they dismiss it as "gees, why would you waste you money on that if you don't have the songs i like".
I think their tiny brains have trouble grappling with the concept of what this thing can do.

I also like the way that it is pretty much user proof without the remote. If I have the remote, no-one can change my music. this is great for gym training where i work.

What are other peoples' reaction to the Empeg?

You can only be young once. You can be immature for as long as you like.

Its been a while since the original message was posted, but I still have a couple of remarks..

In your previous post you said the following..
"they start asking for particular songs. Mainly the top twenty songs, which i invariably don't have yet. Then they dismiss it as "gees, why would you waste you money on that if you don't have the songs i like".

I like that. My answer would be something smart like 'because you listen to crap. The empeg only has songs that I want to hear, not the trash that you want to hear.' Now if you really listen to the top 20 stuff, then I am sorry for dissin' your choice of music, I realize that everyone is different.

I do have friends that sooner or later are going to do the same thing to me.. "what good is it if I can't hear Michael Jackson?" .. in my humble opinion, I am doing them a favor by depriving them of such waste. If they want to hear him, they can get their own empeg.

I honestly like the idea that my 'co-pilot' will no longer be reaching for MY radio, the one in MY car that they happen to be sitting in, and turning on something that I do not want to hear.

My point is, the empeg is (or will be) full of all the songs that YOU want to hear. All of them.

another late reply..

But that is one of the great things about the Mk1 .. no one knows what the buttons do, and at night they cant even see the buttons! My girlfriend hates it becuase I listen to what I want to listen to and she cant do a thing about it (except the occasional slap here and there). its really a great laugh

bboyd
MKI #301

I already had a kind of quarrel because my girlfriend always searches for special songs in a very complicated way. We've solved it the way that she tells me what she wants to hear and I search it for her. Hopefully I won't end in a tree while doing a search...
Maybe I should show her how to search for a particular song ...

TeeMcBee
Got my Mk2! # 080000143

As a majority of girls have a 'select' few songs, assign them PINs. then she can dial up the ones she wants anytime. Maybe her own playlist with a PIN so she can flick thru it.

I'm not trying to be inflamatory, just making observations

____________________
Murray 06000047

...and other sweeping generalizations. ;)

Calvin

.. to get back on the original track. ie. public reaction. I've had my empeg sitting on my table at work since the day i got it. Allmost all the programmers in the house have allready played around with it, agreeing that it's the coolest toy yet. Havn't yet heard a negative comment, perhaps expect for the price, but an old saying sais 'the difference between mens and boy are the pricetags on the toys'

tada

Regards,
Kaare.

Mark II - S/N: 702

"Havn't yet heard a negative comment, perhaps expect for the price,"

You know what my favorite kind of reaction in that category is? The one where the guy chuckles and says (really supercilliously) "Well, for a LOT less than THAT I could just put a cheap-o PC in my trunk and rig up some kind of remote control interface. Don't see WHY I should pay THAT kind of money for something like an empeg, even if it is KIND OF cool if I could just use a PC for a FRACTION of the cost."

To which I always just smile and nod my head and think to myself, "You just don't have a clue do you..."

You should just nod and say "well, go ahead then" :) More power to you!

Calvin

"Well, for a LOT less than THAT I could just put a cheap-o PC in my trunk and rig up some kind of remote control interface. "

Yes, I know that reaction. The correct response is:

"Oh really? And tell me, would this jerry-rigged system have shock-mounted disk drives? Would its disk drives be able to survive the rigors of the road? Would it have a nice, bright display on the dashboard? Would you be able to alphabetically search by title or artist? And how easy would it be to load this device with music? Would it have the option to load the music via USB or ethernet? And can you easily remove it from the car and take it with you to prevent theft? Would this system allow for front-to-rear fading of the music like a regular car stereo? Now tell me, if you added all of those features, and factored in the time it'd take you to create this Frankenstein, how much would it really cost you?"

___________
Tony Fabris

you forgot parametric equlizer, and proper automotive DAC outputs. (i'd like to hear the hum of the DC-AC inverter, the powersupply, and the CPU

besides which, this is probably the kinda guy who likes too hook up Jensen amplifers that they bought for $30 at walmart. ;)

12gig green mk2 -- 080000125

also include all the after sales support, software updates, hardware improvements & re-issues (at no extra cost!). All the work hours that are put in after the initial installation!

____________________
Murray 06000047

About 2 years ago when the empeg was still in development, my friends said the same thing, ( that he can build a computer for cheaper, blah blah ) and I kept telling him about the empeg that was on it’s way. Then even after I got it and showed it to him, he still tried to mount a computer in his car, and began spending more and more money to get it to work. The way he changed the song was using a number key board and there was no way to know where you were in your play list because there was no feedback screen. You only could dial in a song number and hit play. No search, or visuals of any sort.

Then eventually when the mark II started shipping, he broke down and got one. It’s funny because I thought he was almost going to design an in car mp3 that would come close to the empeg for less. He didn’t get close, and now owns a mark II.

(If my buddy that I talk about is reading this, (and he knows who he is), all I can say to him is, “Dude, I give you credit for trying, but I had to tell the story. :) ”


-CHiP

It's been some time, but i have a few thoughts on this too. And i must say, i really liked avatarTX's reply. :)

I thought it was funny how some of my “non-tech” friends would get all excited about the empeg, and how fast you can search for a song, and after telling them that it holds the songs that “you put on it” they are quite disappointed only AFTER they ask for a song that you don’t have and you have to tell them, “I didn’t put that song on there, so I don’t have it.” (that didn’t listen when I told them, “only the songs I put in there”). They are like, “oh man!, that’s stupid.” I wish you all could see the look on my face, it’s classic.

Next time, i promise i will tell him, "It knows that i dont listen to that crap, and only has the songs that i like, it's smart like that." Then they'll be like, "ooooh." - you know the type. ;-)


-CHiP

What are these "non-tech friends" people keep refering to anyway ?

__
Unit serial number 47 (was 330 in the queue)...

These 'non-tech friends' would be pabulum jobbernowl we keep around so that we can gloat at our own technical prowess. ;-)

dictionary

____________________
Murray 06000047

It always makes me smile when I see a post on MP3.com from someone who has worked out exactly how to build their own in-car player for just a few dollars. They know exactly what speed processor they're going to use, and how much memory and disk space. Then they ask for help with a few "little" details, like how to power the thing, or write software for it. You have to wonder what grasp they have on the issues when they admit that they "don't know anything about voltages and stuff". It's OK though, because they know exactly which SoundBlaster to use to get "great quality audio" out of it.

Rob