Amazon reckons MP3 players date back to 1973

ONLINE RETAIL giant Amazon.com says the MP3 player was invented as far as 1973. Not only that, the interweb store was apparently operating even before the commercial Web became a reality. Shurely shome mischtake.

Diamond Rio PMP-300 listing on Amazon.com - So far, all normal

By chance, I did a web search and landed on the Amazon.com listing for one of the first MP3 players, the Diamond Rio PMP-300. If you are an old timer you will remember that this player virtually created the pocket-digital-audio-player marketplace, and sparked a lawsuit from the same music firms that now want us to swallow DRM.

Amazon.com lists the outdated device's specs, but then on the same page informs readers that the device was "first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973".

September 1973?

Apparently, this is not the only item that the stealth Amazon.com web site has been carrying since September, 1973: the Canon Powershot S100 2MP digital camera, like the Rio PMP-300, was apparently also available shortly after The Beatles released their red and the blue albums on vinyl. How folk transferred the songs from vinyl to the Diamond PMP-300 is a feat not explained by the retail giant.

Dozens of other items apparently brought from the future back to 1973 by Jeff Bezos

In short, this scribbler thinks Jeff Bezos is up to something nefarious, and who knows what kind of Time Machine he has stashed away. No really. This will give the Area 51 crowd a lot to think about.

In the meantime, we wonder if maybe this is a Y2K bug gone wild or just inhuman error. INQuiring minds want to know. µ

See also
The Rio PMP-300
Time Machine: The RIAA vs Diamond lawsuit
PMP-300 under WinXP: "Dreaming of Brazil"
British Telecom announces date for Time Travel
MIT fails to attract time travellers
Back to the Future: the trilogy
SCO demands mysterious Linux 2.7 info
Time Machine
Amazon.com sells Pirate's booty and groceries, shocker
Amazon.com selling home defibrillators