I fully accept that there were others, but they were not superfluous(not sure if that is the correct word to use but it feels right)

I guess maybe the point was trying to make is that for portable music the cd player was hands down still the best thing until the ipod took over.

Much like the (and credit to Sony here) walkman before it, the discman is still the device that people used for digital music, specifically mp3s, until the ipod came out.

So yeah im saying it took 1 company, apple in this case, to kill the cd. Not because other people werent in the fight, but because of itunes and apples ease of use development