[vorbis] Windows XP and MP3

[Henry Rearden]

On Thu 12 Apr 2001 Jack Moffitt <jack at icecast.org> wrote:

> > It's not just about providing alternatives... it's about providing
> > *accessible* alternatives... now if only we can get ogg into Rio
> > firmware and othersuch... ;)
>
>      Repitition is the key to learning or some such, so forgive me if
you
>      seen me say this before.
>
>      The best way to get Rio support for vorbis, is to email all the
email
>      addresses you can find, and _ask_ for it. If they see customer
demand,
>      they are likely to do it. Be sure to mention that it already
works in
>      hardware (the iomega hipzip) and that Xiph.org is very interest
in
>      working with other hardware vendors.
>
>      This goes for Rio, creative labs, and any other product you think
should
>      have vorbis. Ask them. Sooner or later they'll come around.
>
>      jack.

Yesterday I called the SonicBlue (they're the company who own
DiamondMM and therefore Rio) pre-sales/customer support line.
I told them that I'd noticed the ads for every single one of their
current players (Rio 500, 600, 800, and Volt; Nike psa[play 120
and 60) include "upgradeable for future audio formats" in their
list of features, and asked which of the players currently support
Vorbis, or are scheduled to support it in the future.

The reply was that they will only consider supporting "industry
standard formats" (their words exactly), and that Vorbis did not,
in their opinion, fit that description. Surprised, I asked if anyone
else had ever asked about this codec. The woman said that I was
the first.

(And it turns out that she is the person who handles all such
requests, and is responsible for forwarding emails about formats
to the engineering teams -- so she isn't just some newly-hired
PR flack.)

Needless to say, Vorbis is just barely on their radar, if that.

I'm going to start calling every couple of days. If you feel strongly
about this, I encourage you to do the same. (Be aware, though, that
they seem to track calls by caller name and phone number, so if you
give them the same info five times they may just label your case file
as "extremist" or something like that, and ignore it.)

The SonicBlue (Rio) contact info is:

Pre-sales/customer support line:    (800) 468-5846
Non-free tech support line:             (541) 967-2450
Email:
customersupport at sonicblue.com
President of the Rio division:           Jim Cady [anyone know his
email?]

-HJR

p.s. I've corresponded with the developers of the Rio500 Linux tools
(see rio500.sourceforge.net) about the possibility of adding firmware
upgrade support to the Linux suite (this would be a key first step to
porting Vorbis to the Rio line). The problem is that Rio refuses to
release the necessary specs, and no one wants to risk testing without
them because clobbering the firmware requires sending the unit back
to Rio for repair.

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