Jon Iverson

One of the visual highlights of the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show and HE 2003 in San Francisco was the Penaudio speakers, sporting a unique sliced-wood veneer wrapped around diminutive two-way designs. While the speakers were easy on the eyes, it wasn't so easy to find a pair to audition in the US.

Downloading audio files onto a computer's hard drive has proven a compelling way to collect content for many music lovers. But the weak link with computer-based audio systems is finding a way to play that music on a more traditional (and typically better-sounding) audio system. With a compatible CD or DVD player, you could burn the files onto a disc, or if you have a portable device such as an iPod, you could hook it up directly to your system.

In other news this week, the music business is in a tailspin, and searching for ways to save itself. The National Association of Record Merchandisers (NARM) has just published its chairman's message, with several clues about what consumers may see from the industry in the coming months.

Only a few short years ago, Napster quickly took root to show the world how Internet-based audio file-trading was where music distribution's future growth might run wild. But the record labels would have none of it and just as swiftly took a legal chainsaw to Napster's trunk, laying it waste and leaving plenty of room for Kazaa and other unsanctioned services to sprout like weeds.