Out of curiosity, which Music player did you settle on? I am in the market for one and looking for options (currently leaning towards a FiiO M11).
The thought process for the purchase was that I wanted a standalone DAP without a touchscreen (iPod-esque), without wireless connectivity, with expandable storage, and not running Android. The M3K also has good Rockbox support including dual-boot, so I swap between that and the native Linux firmware at times.
I am considering getting a second device of some kind with Bluetooth because there are occasional but persistent times where it honestly would be nice. Ideally it'd still be running a pretty basic OS, though.
I believe you are correct. I was only able to find a listing on Amazon for a used one of the M3K devices. Also found a listing on ebay.
I need a device with Bluetooth as my car doesn't have an auxiliary jack. Suppose that I could also make use of an low power FM transmitter also.
This is the model I use in my own life but with a slight variation:
My server at the datacenter is the core and everything else is a mobile extension of it.
* Westinghouse desk fan. Tanky and moves a ton of air because it has essentially no grill, but I do have it on a kill switch to protect little fingers.
* As @zamnos mentioned, radio. I have several consumer receivers and amateur transmitters from the period. These fall less into the "best" category for obvious reasons, but are more for kids' historical context. I'm exploring arcane combos like a cassette player + tiny AM transmitter + antique radio. Sort of a [mono] stereo with a non-all-you-can-eat music library combined with experiencing the physicality of RF propagation. :)
* Many books around that age. Tom Swift, Oz, etc.
* A few kitchen gadgets like an electric waffle iron and a hand grinder (I do have modern ones too).
I do own one, but it doesn't get used for much (browser-on-the-go, mostly).
Smartphones are definitely better all-rounders, but what I've come to adopt in recent years is a hobby of finding whatever tech/concept seems "best" to me (from any period in time) and then using that. Sometimes that means hardware from 1920, sometimes from today (e.g. I have a current-gen GPU to join the AI arms race). Sometimes that means a modern evolution of the concept without losing the spirit.
Easy examples:
* iPod -> Music player w/ FLAC + 1TB SD
* Gameboy -> Analogue Pocket (or sometimes original hardware)
* A modern standalone camera, etc.
It's sort of like living in the dream version of 2002 where tech stayed hopeful and fun (not sure if that's good or bad). Definitely brought me the most joy in tech I've had in years.
PDAs (and a _lot_ of tech from <2010) have the advantage of still being built entirely to serve the user. For my needs, I basically view it as day-planner or complement to a notepad and don't expect it to be a smartphone. My opinion is that these devices basically "solved" the digital calendar by ~1999 and that almost every calendar feature since (except maybe sharing) usually serves some other business need in addition to the user, or is just clunkier.
A PDA just wants to take good notes, manage the day's work, and be a simple extension of your mind. Most modern tasks (that don't require a network connection to be useful) have apps that still exist and don't spy on you: Food journals, encrypted notes, flashcards, project management, Wordle, period trackers...
So, if your life today doesn't _depend_ on a specific vision of modernity, you don't miss out on much of it while benefiting from some forgotten UX benefits: Offline-first, great UI, week-long batteries (AAA if so inclined), Graffiti input, etc. :)