Although the format became synonymous with the digital music revolution that started in the late 90s ... When portable media players came onto the scene, they were called ‘MP3 players ...

First appearing in the mid-90s, the ESP (Electronic Skip Protection or Electronic Shock Protection) button enabled a data buffering feature on portable CD players to help prevent audio playback ...

All portable music players can read files encoded in MP3 and, quite often, other audio formats (see AAC). In addition, CD/DVD players, whether shelf units or portable, may play MP3 files.