Time to ditch your Walkman?

=09=09=09Digital Dispatch [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] =
=09=09=09=09
[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE] =09[IMAGE]=09 [IMAGE] May 31, 2001 [IMAGE] --Steve F=
ox, editor in chief, CNET Networks Dear readers, If you have a handheld=
--or are thinking of buying one--maybe it's time to ditch your Walkman. Bec=
ause listening to music on a handheld device (except a Palm) has finally be=
come practical . What's the problem with Palm? For some inexplicable reason=
, the world's most popular handheld has no stereo headphone jack. But for m=
ost other devices, digital music is a natural. Virtually anything you might=
want to hear is available in MP3 format, and one broadcaster has even star=
ted a wireless digital-music delivery system (something like radio for hand=
helds). So grab your handheld and tune in. Sounds like a great formula for =
a harmonious year. This Week's Top 10 Problems with the new McDonal=
d's wand [IMAGE] [IMAGE] Software [IMAGE] [IMAGE] Banking on th=
e Net Does anything call up images of bricks and mortar more than banks do=
? You'd think these traditional temples would be the last things to go high=
tech, but online banks are springing up left and right. Can they manage yo=
ur money as well as your local teller can? CNET's secret shopper opened che=
cking accounts at three online banks and compared the results. See which ba=
nk, if any, takes the golden coin. In Software Electronics [IMAGE] Musi=
c on your handheld Why buy a separate MP3 player when you already carry ar=
ound a PDA with the processing power to handle digital audio? Learn the bes=
t ways to listen to music--and to make your own--on your Palm OS and Pocket=
PC handheld. In Electronics Wireless [IMAGE] The ultimate guide to wirel=
ess e-mail devices In the first two parts of our three-part series, we tol=
d you about options for Palm OS and Pocket PC devices. Now, in the third an=
d final part, we round up the most popular two-way pagers for wireless e-ma=
il. In Wireless Software [IMAGE] Office XP superguide At long last, Off=
ice XP hits the shelves this week. What's new and improved? Is your PC up t=
o the challenge? Should you bother to upgrade? Here's everything you need t=
o know about the world's most popular office suite. In Software Hardware=
[IMAGE] Apple iBook: snow-white and skinny The snow-white, slim, crisp-lo=
oking iBook takes obvious cues from its much-lauded big brother, the PowerB=
ook G4. Has this little brother behaved? Check our first take. In Hardware =
Web Building [IMAGE] Steal this Flash You don't have to reinvent the wh=
eel to have fun with Flash. We lead you through the ethics, challenges, and=
practical considerations of customizing open source ActionScript as you bu=
ild your own version of Pac-Man by altering our media files. In Web Buildin=
g problems with the new McDonald's payment system [IMAGE] Top Ten =
[IMAGE] [IMAGE] McDonald's is experimenting with a high-tech payment sys=
tem: a plastic wand that patrons wave in front of an electronic sensor to p=
ay for burgers and such. Currently being tested in Boise, Idaho, the system=
deducts the appropriate charge from a customer's debit or credit card. We=
don't know if McWands will ever catch on, but we urge Ronald and friends t=
o think carefully before charging ahead. New technologies often yield unint=
ended consequences; witness the following: 10 Open sesame bun Avid Harry=
Potter fans keep waving wands over their burgers, incanting Latinate phras=
es such as "Super-sizius." 9 Your money or your burger Get mugged by the Ha=
mburglar and find that your credit card has been debited for 500 Happy Meal=
s. 8 Is that a wand in your pocket... Rash of employee firings stemming fro=
m inappropriate wand jokes. 7 No, not the "1812 Overture"! Prankster sympho=
ny conductors repeatedly crash the system. 6 Fuzzy magic Income tax equatio=
ns thrown into disarray when federal government opts for construction of 20=
0-ton wand to wave at national debt. 5 Drive-by wanding You're inadvertentl=
y charged for an order of Chicken McNuggets every time you pass a set of go=
lden arches. 4 McDungeons and Dragons Role-playing gamers flock to the new =
system, only to cancel service when they discover the wands don't shoot fir=
eballs. 3 Burned again Vigorous wand waving could overturn hot cups of coff=
ee, resulting in immediate lawsuits. 2 Would you like spam with that? Wand =
transmits your demographic info to marketers, who bombard you with Clearasi=
l and ThighMaster ads. 1 Over 10 billion slaughtered Militant vegetarian ha=
ckers reconfigure wand to automatically tabulate cow body count with every =
purchase. On the CNET Network [IMAGE] Tech Trends Hardware Software=
Shopping Downloads News Investing Electronics Web Building=
Help & How-Tos Internet Games Message Boards CNET TV & Radio=
Music Center =09[IMAGE] [IMAGE] Click Here! Tech News News.com =
Office XP: open for business Price pressure extends to new Palms Gatew=
ay launches full assault in price war Wireless Web gets personal Amazon=
sellers fuming over auction glitch More CNET News Top Downloads [IM=
AGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] The Bat [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] Ashampoo WinOptimi=
zer 2000 [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] MusicMatch Jukebox [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [=
IMAGE] Cinema 4D XL (for the Mac) Editors' Choice IBM ThinkPad T20 not=
ebook Editors' Choice In Hardware Sonicblue Rio 800 128MB MP3 player Ed=
itors' Choice In Music Center Sony DCR-PC5 digital camcorder Editors' Ch=
oice In Electronics Microsoft Publisher 2002 Editors' Choice In Softwar=
e Progeny Debian 6.0 Editors' Choice In Linux Center Novatel Wireless M=
erlin for Ricochet Editors' Choice In Wireless NetMechanic Editors' Cho=
ice In Web Building =09[IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] [IMAGE] =09 [IMAGE] =
=09

[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09

[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09 Subscribe to other free newslette=
rs News.com Daily Dispatch Web Building Newsletter All newslet=
ters The e-mail address for your subscription is shendri@ECT.ENRON.COM. P=
lease send any questions, comments, or concerns to: Newsletter-Support@cnet=
.com . Subscribe | Unsubscribe =09[IMAGE] =09[IMAGE]=09

[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09

[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE]=09[IMAGE] =09Price comparisons | Product reviews | B=
usiness solutions | Downloads | All CNET services =09[IMAGE]=09

[IMAGE]=09
Copyright ?1995-2001 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy poli=
cy . =09

[IMAGE]