From conception to birth

A quick history and photos of the development of the new solid state player.

The development of this kind of machine does not happen overnight! The idea was conceived in the mind of Ray Mackaway, GRN's senior research and development engineer, in about 2002. As he looked at the rapidly changing electronics market, it became clear that a low cost hand wind digital player could be a reality. Other similar devices were starting to appear but none of them seemed to do the job we thought needed to be done.

A design team was put together under the leadership of Rob Nathan. Ray Mackaway, Noel Bachelor, Kim Knight, Colin Petrie (US office) and others have all made valuable contributions. There were many things to research, consider and check out - the electronics, power generation and storage, usability, size, weight, strength, how to load and store audio programs, control software (firmware) etc.

It had to be continually kept in mind that this was not being designed for a technology savvy 'westernized' user but perhaps for a remote village pastor, for use in oral societies where private listening devices are culturally inappropriate. Special thanks are due to the Christian Technology Centre in the US for their help with the electronics, and also to Mike Fewchuck of Sydney who gave invaluable help with the design process and case design.

It has been a long 'gestation period' and the 'delivery pains' are about to start!

But we believe thus far God has helped us and he will continue to do so. It is our hope and prayer that many will hear the words of life through this player and come to know Him, "whom to know is life eternal."