Pretzel showed us his Rio player but we had to rely on Wikipedia for an explanation of the parallel cable used to transfer mp3s in and out of the player.
Here is a follow-up webcam from the P-man showing us the cable, and it's satisfyingly clunky indeed for our vision of an alternative future steampunk Earth where Apple never existed:
On the weighty issue of GIF pronunciation (hard G, of course), you might want to consider that the j-sound-preferring GIF inventor who everyone loves to cite as an authority, Steve Wilhite, was a nag and consummate bore on this subject since the 1980s. (And he's still at it.)
Says Charlie Reading:
I worked with the creator of GIF (Steve Wilhite) when I was still employed by CompuServe. Steve always pronounced it "jiff" and would correct those who pronounced it with a hard G. "Choosy developers choose GIF" (spinning off of a historically popular peanut butter commercial).
[Exaggerated eyeroll]
So it was not only counterintuitive to use a soft G, it was considered funny to pronounce it the same way as a food product with a lame, coined name. Philip Burgess writes:
Anyone who pronounces "GIF" with a hard G simply does not understand computer programmers (and any programmers who still insist on this silly pronunciation are simply unfit). No *decent* coder would pass up an opportunity to inflict a horrid pun on the world. And seeing as peanut butter is one of the principle three programmer foods (the other two being Pepsi and nacho cheese Doritos), the reference is immediately obvious.
So, in conclusion, use the hard G and feel good about it.
