Monday, December 1, 2008

Wireless CD Transmitter?


I've been thinking about a possible solution to a recurring dilemma many people have accrued with the recent (or not so recent) advent of virtually all music being converted to MP3. Almost every person I know below the age of 60 has some form of an MP3 player, whether it's an iPod, a Zune, a Sansa, a Zen, etc. The MP3 player, in my opinion, is one of the best inventions within the music lovers' realm. Some might argue that it's terrible because it's destroying the music industry and all the record companies are taking tremendous dives because of the MP3 player's encouragement toward illegal music downloads. If record companies didn't charge $17.99 for a CD that cost $16.99 to make, perhaps the illegal downloading would have taken a dive as well. I believe that the MP3 player serves as a major part of the change in today's society. Take a walk through Manhattan during rush hour tomorrow and think back ten years. If there is one difference that sticks out more than any other, it's that a very high percentage of these people tomorrow will have headphones in their ears. This has completely revitalized the way people go to work in the morning, it changes the way people work out, it changes the way people walk, the way people read, relax, go to the bathroom, etc.

But what about the people who drive? It's okay for some people. Some cars still have tape decks, so it is possible to use a cassette adapter to connect the MP3 player to the car, but the listener is limited to cassette quality. They've also developed the very unpopular FM Transmitter. Honestly, I have never heard anyone say anything positive about any one of these. For any of you who are unfamiliar with an FM Transmitter, it's basically a device that allows a driver to wirelessly transmit a signal from an audio device through a corresponding radio station on an FM band. One problem with this is that the FM station has to be of a certain level of "fuzziness". Another problem with this is that FM reception changes with every mile travelled and is prone to interference. The only solution I agree with is the AUX (or auxiliary) feature , which allows one to connect a 3.5mm plug into the headphone jack of an audio device (such as the MP3 player) and then connect another 3.5 mm plug (which would be on the end of the cord connected to the first plug) into a 3.5mm port somewhere in the car, which tunes directly through the speakers in the car. This is by far the greatest solution so far for drivers.

But what do people do if they don't have a tape deck or AUX port? Should they have to settle for an FM Transmitter, which sucks and could cost anywhere from $39.99 to over $119.99? That's not very fair. I'm not an engineer in any way, shape or form, but I often get ideas that I think might possibly be worthy of submitting to engineers. By now, most cars have CD players. Why hasn't anyone thought of a Wireless CD Transmitter? What if there could be a CD with a built-in wireless or Bluetooth chip with a corresponding wireless or Bluetooth receiver that could attach to an iPod or other MP3 players? The problem with the wireless FM Transmitters is not the wireless. It's the FM. I believe that this idea would work very well and would be very profitable. At this point, I don't wish or expect to see a dime from this if it's invented. I'll just have the satisfaction of knowing that they finally provided auxless, cassette-deckless, FM Transmitter-hating people with a beneficial worry-free solution.

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