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It will be interesting to see what may happen to the Shoutcast servers, will ACBI be affected for instance?
At 04:18 AM 11/14/2004, you wrote: Hi, Gary, just because development may stop on winamp, doesn't mean we have to stop using it, the same thing has happened to my email program, and I will still use it no matter what. On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 11:26:09 -0500, Gary Wood wrote:
>It's too bad this is happening to one of the best players around. If they >stop development of Winamp, we'll just have to keep the one we've got, if we >can use it. >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Steve Pattison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2004 5:39 AM >Subject: Fwd: The Future of Winamp > > >> *********** BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** >> On 11/11/2004 at 3:44 PM geoff chapman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> check this out, AOL pays 100 million dollars for this one little >> nullsoft >> company? amazing! just amazing! >> >> If anyone would like to educate me as to how one little program that >> does >> one little job, could possibly become worth, such a huge figure to one >> company to pay, to acquire another, I'd reeeeeeally love to understand >> this. >> something about the world I just don't get here yet obviously. >> >> ... goodness, one more thing! <grin>. >> >>>From an article on the Betanews site: >> Death Knell Sounds for Nullsoft, Winamp >> By >> Nate Mook >> , BetaNews >> November 10, 2004, 1:26 PM >> The last members of the original Winamp team have said goodbye to AOL >> and >> the door >> has all but shut on the Nullsoft era, BetaNews has learned. >> Only a few employees remain to prop up the once-ubiquitous digital >> audio >> player with >> minor updates, but no further improvements to Winamp are expected. >> \ >> Winamp's demise comes as no surprise to those close to the company who >> say >> the software >> has been on life support since the resignation of Nullsoft founder and >> Winamp creator >> Justin Frankel last January. >> The marriage of Nullsoft and AOL was always one of discontent. After >> AOL >> acquired >> the small company in 1999 for around $100 million, the young team of >> Winamp developers >> was assimilated into a strict corporate culture that begged for >> rebellion. >> Although >> Nullsoft was initially given a long leash by AOL, It wasn't long until >> the >> two ideologies >> collided. >> Frankel and his team were accustomed to simply brainstorming ideas over >> coffee and >> bringing them to the masses without approval. So when Frankel and >> fellow >> Nullsoft >> developer Tom Pepper devised a decentralized peer-to-peer file sharing >> system, dubbed >> Gnutella, parent AOL was left in the dark. >> Gnutella was unveiled >> in March 2000, much to the chagrin of an unprepared AOL; executives >> feared >> the program >> would encourage copyright infringement and damage the company's pending >> merger with >> Time Warner. AOL quickly clamped down on Gnutella, but not before the >> software's >> source code leaked. Gnutella-based alternatives soon followed, igniting >> a >> peer-to-peer >> land grab that has yet to subside. >> But AOL knew it had to protect its investment and turn a profit from >> the >> freely available >> Winamp. Frankel and crew found themselves in hot water numerous times, >> but >> always >> escaped with little more than a proverbial slap on the wrist. >> However, growing displeasure reached a boiling point with Nullsoft's >> unsanctioned >> release of WASTE >> -- an encrypted file-sharing network -- in June 2003. Frankel >> threatened >> to resign >> after AOL >> removed WASTE >> , but remained with the company long enough to finish Winamp 5.0. >> Frankel's departure followed AOL layoffs and the closure of Nullsoft's >> San >> Francisco >> offices in December 2003. >> With AOL struggling to stave off declining subscriber numbers and >> 700 additional layoffs >> planned for next month, the company's focus has shifted away from >> supporting acquisitions >> such as Winamp. >> Despite the somber farewell, Nullsoft's former masterminds are proud of >> their accomplishments. >> Winamp helped start a digital audio revolution and boasts an incredible >> 60 >> million >> users per month. >> After a disappointing >> Winamp3 >> , Nullsoft developers returned to the drawing board and completed >> long-standing goals >> with the release of >> Winamp 5.0 >> in late 2003. >> Nullsoft's >> Shoutcast >> , which pioneered audio streaming over the Internet, is called "the >> Net's >> best secret" >> by its creator Tom Pepper and has reached 170,000 simultaneous users >> accounting for >> 70 million hours of listening each month. >> For its part, AOL says it remains committed to Winamp, stating it is "a >> thriving >> product that AOL continues to support and will continue to support." >> But without those who poured their heart and soul into building the >> software, Winamp >> seems destined to meet a fate similar to fellow audio player >> Sonique >> , after Lycos saw the departure of its development team. Sonique has >> stagnated for >> years, and development ceased altogether last March. >> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> When you have eliminated the impossible. >> whatever remains, however improbable, >> must be the truth. >> *********** END FORWARDED MESSAGE *********** >> >> Regards Steve, >> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Skype: steve1963 >> MSN Messenger: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... >> http://www.pc-audio.org >> >> To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > > > >_______________________________________________ >PC-Audio List Help, Guidelines, Archives and more... >http://www.pc-audio.org > >To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >
Marty
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