Did you know that the Media Go program is included on a disc that comes in the PSP Go box?

I watched a guy unbox a retail one at PAX.  I think that addresses the issue here.

Thanks for the info. It addresses most of the issue. I'd still like it to be mandatory, but that's merely splitting hairs if they're willing to nudge you in the right direction with a disc. What about the syncing part?

You have to realize that there is no knock off programs because the PC environment thrives by having people be able to freely make their own decoders if they have the knowledge and willing to do so. Really iTunes, the media manager, and the Zune Store's content transcoding functionality could easily be called knockoffs of what has been on the net for free for ages.

Just because some free decoders added PSP, iPod, Zune, and PS3 codexes does not mean they are knocking off corporate software but rather they are just adding support and functionality for their users and future users.

As someone that is far too knowledgable about computers, you're never going to understand the need for others to not have these freedoms and be restricted into doing things one way. In such, you're never going to understand a corporation's need to restrict these customers to get them onboard. Ease of use to many means show me one way to do this so I can learn it and be done with it.

As much as I like my PS3 and PSP, this pretty much kills any notion of me getting a PSP Go. The price was the other killer. Big thumbs down on this. I don't see how the PSP go can succeed against the iPhone/iTouch and Nintendo DS/DSi if you can't even win over your faithfuls.

But wouldn;t it be easier to have an MP3 player that supports a good number for codexs that you can just add music onto it as if its a flash drive? I mean kids these days do know downloading music is a very easy way for getting music. Schools are also requiring the use of flash drives at an elementary level so they should know how to add files to one. So a general MP3 like Sony's, which WalMart sells and the highest priced ones cost $120 (not so cheap), allows the user to just add the music on like a flash drive.

No need for a one way street for their music. Basically, the need for iTunes decoder and uploader and things like it are basically worthless. If it wasn't for the brand name and constant reimaging by adding none-music features the iPod wouldn't be half as popular as it is. Still the iPod's overall marketshare should be lowering thanks to increased customer knowledge and competition from Sony, Phillips, Creative, and Microsoft.

Most people could care less about codecs. Most people don't even know what a codec is.

The music market is so yesterday anyways. The real bread winner for Apple is the iPhone. A single iPhone can probably make 10x the profit of an iPod. That's where Apple is crushing Sony. While Sony does produce a lot of phones, those phones make no money. Apple is making billions in profit from its phones while Sony is losing money.

I know the general consumer doesn't know what codexs is, but that does not matter. What matters is that an MP3 player is made to support as many different formats as it can so a customer can jsut throw an mp3, ogg, and aac formated music file onto their MP3 player and they all work 100% without needing to convert them or use anything extra software to add the songs to the player

And you are right, the iPhone is Apple's claim to the mountains of money at the moment. That does not mean Sony does not make money on each cell phone sold, even the ones at Walmart that are free if you have good credit. The reason is that Sony gets paid by Verizon, AT&T, or whoever for the phone purchase from the money received in the contractual payments received by the phone owner. Also with the advent of Google's entry to the phone market Apple has a ton of competition since every manufacturer is virtually dropping Microsoft's mobile OS for the Android which features functionality that far outreachs Apple's and has an app store full of great goodies. The iPhone is only as good as the software, unfortunately Apple's software is outdated by Google's linux OS Android.

The lowest common denominator is not children, it's middle aged adults and older. Children easily pick up thing like learning PC architecture. They're very easily acclimated into the internet, etc. It's adults that find it harder to learn and they must be coaxed into doing things a certain way. Trust me, as someone who has a completely computer illiterate mother, I can tell you no child on earth is this damn computer retarded. I taught her this year how to operate her e-mail in the most basic fashion. Every few days I would teach her how to send e-mails, attachments, etc. It took her four months to stop asking me for help.

However, these same people do enjoy technology if it's easy enough for them to understand it. This is where stadnardized programs, music stores and syncing come in. Ease of use by limiting what can be done.

But the generation that both of our parents are from are slowly but surely becoming a minority as people from our generation and this generation's children are getting older and slowly becoming the majority. Middle-aged people are starting to become more techsavy and our children are way the hell smarter than us, (I meet a 12 year old that hand coded his own linux distro o.O).

Still you have to remember who MP3 payers are typically for too. The main market is high schoolers, secondary is people doing activities like working out, jogging, etc. While older folks might want one, there are still  Portable CD players which are made to be nearly impossible to make a CD skip while running full speed for sale, for the less-than-knowledgable buyers.