Eco Media Player: Play Green Music

Being green while listening to your iPod aren’t two states of being that you would naturally think relate to each other. Even if you listen to lots of Jack Johnson.

Well now you can feel good about being a touch anti-social with your MP3 player. The Eco-Media Player will pump out your beats without using electricity. How you do power Kid Rock then you ask? The energy comes from you. Literally.

The Eco-Media Player will work after you’ve wound it up. Like a really old alarm clock. It’s not a gadget that’s going back in time though, it’s actually an attempt to take us forward in the world with minimal impact on the environment.

You don’t have to stand there whirring away for ages to listen to one track. One minute of winding action will provide you with up to 45 minutes of playback. So fortunately – or unfortunately- you won’t end up with the bicep of Arnie anytime soon from this.

Just because it is first and foremost an eco-gadget, doesn’t mean that it’s therefore lacking in other features. Not only will the Eco-Media Player play MP3 files, it will also play video, will play and record FM radio, has an led torch, is a photo viewer and it also has a line-in socket so you can record your random thoughts and musings onto the device.

It also features a speaker so you’re not bound to your headphone wires when you’re the only one in the house and you fancy listening to your playlist.

The latest version of the Eco Media Player comes with 4GB of memory pitting it up against the iPod Nano. Priced at £130 though, it requires a bit more of an outlay than is needed for a Nano. There’s no doubt you’d save money on electricity with the Eco-Media Player, but for this saving to equate to the difference in price will mean listening to a lot of music. A lot.

It is compatible with both PCs and Macs thanks to an easily used drag-and-drop interface.

All in all this looks like a great way to bring a bit of green into today’s world and inventor Trevor Baylis, has managed to provide the tech features we’re used to in an eco-friendly way. As Stephen Fry said in his review of the original Eco-Media Player, “Eat Trevor's dust, Apple”.

Sources: Baylis, Pocket-Lint, Stephen Fry’s Blog