[geeks] Athlon 64 X2 3800+

[nate at portents.com]

> When MP3 first hit the scene, I couldn't even *decode* in real-time.  I
> had to batch decode and then play the resulting WAV files.  If memory
> serves, I was running a 486DX-33 at the time.  I managed to upgrade to a
> 486BL2-66 shortly thereafter, which was *barely* capable of decoding MP3
> in realtime.

That was right around the time Philips introduced the DCC175 portable
Digital Compact Cassette recorder, for which you could purchase the
DCC-link cable (PCA10DC), which let you interface the deck with a Windows
PC through the parallel port.  Combined with DCC-Studio, you could
actually copy to and from the DCC cassettes unrestricted and if you had a
powerful enough computer, play back the audio with any ISO11172-3 MPEG
standard playback software (DCC used 384Kbit/sec MPEG-1 level 1, which is
very close to MPEG-1 level 3, aka MP3).

Never actually owned one myself, instead going down the MiniDisc route
(which I later regretted partly because that was when Sony started
shifting a lot of their production overseas to places like Malaysia and
consequently there was a considerable drop in hardware lifespan causing
failures just outside the warranty period).

I do find it somewhat ironic though that Philips essentially brought an
MP3-class solution to market with computer connectivity, only they were
about 10 years too early, and chose the wrong medium to launch it on
(compact cassette!)

- Nate