Amazon is now taking pre-orders for portable media centers like this Creative Labs 20 GB Zen. Don't expect these devices to take off anytime soon for the following reasons:
Price - at $499 this device isn't priced for the mass market. Additionally, the value proposition for this product (aka - why someone would buy it) is currently really hard for the average consumer to understand. The concept of taking audio along with someone has been around since the Walkman, but taking video is completely different and spending $499 on a product you don't understand is a tough sell (see the early days of TiVo)
Ease of Use - No matter what the manufactures and Microsoft will tell you, getting content onto one of these devices simply won't be easy for most people. Consumers don't understand all the issues around codecs, various ways to connect the device, etc. And just wait until someone tries and load one of these devices with a DVD they already own and they find out they are breaking the law (The DMCA prohibits breaking the encryption of digital content even for obvious fair use situations as this).
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