Why the name “MP3 Player”?
Just occurred to me that the fact that we call little gadgets that play digital audio “MP3 players” is probably as silly as calling car audio systems “8-tracks” or mobile phones “walkie-talkies”. MP3 is far from the only audio format in the world or even the only audio format that these things play. One day we’ll all look back and laugh.
come now. this is a silly observation. mp3 was the format that 'began it all' in terms of digital audio distribution, and the 1st players that came out played mostly mp3's. as that was the format they played, and the pervasive format was mp3 the name made complete sense and stuck around.
Anyone knowing the meaning of “8-track tape” is probably too old to know the meaning of “mp3” and vice versa. You’re right, one day we’ll (some of us) look back and laugh at mp3’s.