As you know, I've made a few USB sticks full of music for myself and my sister. We like to play them in our cars. The dashboard stereo system allows you to play them sequentially or randomly. It's pretty neat.
Both of us would like to be able to do this on our home stereos. The options to do so are somewhere between nonexistent and impossible to find.
I can play a stick from my portable DVD player plugged into the stereo, but only sequentially.
I'm thinking of buying a cheap used laptop. Hopefully there will be a software somewhere in the world (either Windows or Mac) that plays USB music.
Checking online, people's best advice is to either A.) rename all the songs on the USB stick so they play randomly, or B.) import all the songs into a portable MP3 player like a Sandisc which have a random play option. Obviously both of these are ridiculous.
Here's my product idea. A handheld player 1/3 the size of a pack of cigarettes that the USB stick fits into. On top is a small 1" LCD screen which reads the file name and file structure. Below the screen is a 4-way rocker, up for going up a level, down for going down a level, left and right for advance and back up, push to play. Headphone output jack.
Simple.
Why has nobody built one? Or, as usually happens, somebody has, but I haven't been able to find one.
Lots of handheld MP3 players. Some accept mini-SD memory cards (but none USB sticks). Lots of MP3 players built inside an USB stick, that you can apparently plug into your computer to load.
Nothing that works as a GUI to your own USB stick.
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