bits;696079 Wrote:
> Powerful systems are complex. It is the nature of the beast.
>
> I dont know how you can dumb down such a powerful product without just
> making it not powerful.
>
Powerful at what ?
Powerful at supporting all possible configuration possibilities and
making it as fast as possible to scan your music library ?
or
Powerful at making it an easy and enjoyable experience to discover and
listen to music ?
I'd rather prefer the later and that's not where the focus has been
during the last years, the focus during last years has been very
technical and more about making the product more stable, decrease the
maintenance costs and make the scanner faster. There has been very
little focus on improving the functionality related to music
listening/discovery.
Sure, stability and correcting bugs are important, but will it result
in Logitech selling more Squeezeboxes ?
Maybe some through recommendations from forum members, but how do they
reach other users ? Can they use less bugs and faster scanner as an
argument to make your non technical friends select a Squeezebox ?
I think the single most important thing to get rid of is the computer.
There are two reasons which have stopped my friends to use the
Squeezebox:
1. The requirement to have a computer powered on (people don't have
stationary computer these days, they have tablets or laptops)
2. The requirement to rip all their CD-collection.
For youths the second point is not an issue because their collection
already is in electronic form, but for older people which have a large
CD or even LP collection it is.
The first point is an issue for most non technical users, but it's not
an issue for many community members, for us it's an advantage to have
the server on a computer since it means that we can easily improve it
by getting a better computer.
I also think many non technical users use the "Music Folder" view
instead of the other menus, mainly because it's too complicated for
them to correct the tags. Starting another program, finding the
incorrect track, correct it in a way so SBS/LMS understands it
properly, is not something non technical users want to spend time
doing. Of course, many non technical users also mostly use it for
streaming services and internet radio.
I think it's important that we start to think about what
features/changes are needed to make the Squeezebox attractive to our
non technical friends. If Logitech can't reach these users the
Squeezebox is going to die or be abandoned by Logitech, they aren't
going to continue to maintain a geek product, they want something which
they can use to expand to the masses.
Of course, the biggest issue at the moment is not limitations of the
product itself, it's the lack of marketing.
--
erland
Erland Isaksson ('My homepage' (http://erland.isaksson.info))
(Developer of 'many plugins/applets (both free and commercial)'
(http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/User:Erland).
If you like to encourage future presence on this forum and/or third
party plugin/applet development, 'consider purchasing some plugins'
(http://license.isaksson.info))
Interested in music discovery ? See 'Social Music Discovery (SMD)'
(http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?p=656713) project.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
erland's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=3124
View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=94109
_______________________________________________
beta mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/beta
