Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP300
The MPMan F10 wasn’t exactly a runaway success, and there’s a good chance few were ever spotted in the wild here in North America. But in September of 1998, the first commercially successful MP3 player was released by Diamond Multimedia: the Rio PMP 300. This device also debuted a design that’s so memorable and iconic that even Apple didn’t stray far from it a few years later.
The original 32MB version of the Rio PMP 300 sold for the equivalent of over $350, but unlike the MPMan, it included a SmartMedia slot, allowing its storage capacity to be increased, and it ran on a single AA battery that provided over 10 hours of playback. And although it was released well before most people knew what an MP3 was, the Rio PMP300 was the first MP3 player to ruffle the RIAA’s feathers, as the group actually filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent the device from being sold, which was eventually denied.
