Rio PMP300

Diamond Rio PMP300, 1998 The Rio matters as much for the courtroom as for the hardware. Released in September 1998 at $200 with 32MB of memory and a SmartMedia slot for more, it was sued by the Recording Industry Association of America within weeks. The RIAA lost. A judge refused to block sales, the appeals court held that the Rio fell outside the Audio Home Recording Act because it could not copy from CDs, tapes or broadcasts, and the two sides later dropped their litigation. That outcome helped clear the way for the MP3 players that followed, the iPod included, which is reason enough to know this modest-looking player.