In 2001, artist and designer Raphael Abrams went looking for a new challenge. After some long and careful consideration, he came upon the idea of designing and building his own open source mp3 player kit. His criteria? First, it had to be easy to build. Second, it had to be open sourced. Finally, and most importantly, it had to be more than just a handheld device — it had to connect easily to many interfaces, everything from simple button pushing to parallel ports to very powerful serial modes.

It took several iterations, but eventually, he came up with the Daisy, an easy-to-build, pocket-sized mp3 player. Daisy’s audio quality is as good as an iPod, can access 65,000 tracks, play 48khz WAV files as well as mp3s, and unlike an iPod, you can change the battery.

But the really Big Idea behind the Daisy is the ease with which it interfaces with so many devices. It is the perfect MP3 kit for Makers, for it easily integrates with kiosks, displays, art installations, or just about anything else the maker community can dream up.

Available at the MAKE store! $119.95