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Today MusicGremlin started selling the first player to download without a PC and The Wall Street Journal has got hold of it. (We all can't be Walter Mossberg and Katherine Boehret.) The Gremlin downloads via wi-fi for 99 cents per song. You can also use a PC but it must be a Windows PC. For music sharing, it can even beam music from player to player, as long as both parties subscribe to MusicGremlin Direct for $14.99/month. The WSJ does describe a few DRM limitations: "you can't share certain kinds of songs, including legally obtained MP3 files that you transfer to the Gremlin from your computer." Also, while the player downloads from T-Mobile hotpots, it can't do some forms of PC-enabled wi-fi-ing. The player has a two-inch LCD, 8GB capacity, and sells for $299 from musicgremlin.com.

Oh, why can't we just have digital movie downloads and forget this whole packaged media era?

The gear has been packed back up and the rooms cleared. The demo material has been tossed into suitcases, destined to end up in an obscure corner of each exhibitor's factory, the place where overplayed and now unloved recordings go to die. And copious notes have been made on what worked and what needs to be improved.

Panasonic thinks - and rightly so - that a lot of consumers haven't got a clue as to what HDTV really is or how to get real HDTV content. The company also says they expect almost three million of these clueless people (some of them probably understand what's going on, but a lot more of them don't) will purchase plasma TVs this year. For those smart enough to buy a Panasonic plasma HDTV, the manufacturer will offer the Panasonic Plasma Concierge program.