The first portable digital music players came out in 1996.

Many companies make small digital audio players (usually called an mp3 player).

The most recent developments have been in digital audio players.

Dell and other manufacturers have come out with digital music players.

Apple's business strategy is to maintain control over both the music and its digital player.

In the mid-90's both companies came out with random-access digital players.

Apple holds a huge lead in portable digital music players, with 70 percent of the market.

The basic model costs $150; a $160 version can be plugged into digital music players.

And various portable digital music players were already on the market before the iPod was even an idea.

What the newspaper industry really needs is its own iPod - a digital player for the eyes.