Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
> In all earnestness, I start seeing the "SqueezeBox" product range go
> down the wrong path. Having been a product manager myself for a long
> time, I hear the alarm bells shrill for quite some time now.
>
> As a developer, being enthusiastic for some time, I'm constantly losing
> interest in cooperation, because the development paths seem unclear and
> not well-defined, old bugs keep resurfacing, odd decisions are made (and
> taken back).
>
I understand your dilemma... let me assure you that we're working very
hard to continue to work with the development community and that we
actually want to increase the amount of community contribution
significantly to future software releases.
Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
>
> The product itself (Duet and the Controller, mainly) keeps getting more
> unusable with every "update" -- one starts getting anxious ("What will
> break this time?") instead of happily anticipating things getting better
> and more usable -- and being able to USE it for what it's meant: An
> enyojable way of listening to and showing off your music.
>
We're definitely aware that software updates have broken things for
some users... however we work very closely with our Support staff and
are fairly confident that the most recently released software (7.3.3) is
the most stable we've had since 7.0. I understand that each persons
experience is different, but perhaps you might open another thread (or
contact support) to deal with your specific issues?
Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
>
> Successful products are "emotional" products, remember? So why isn't
> the emotion a good one, but frustration mostly?
>
> Slimserver and the Squeezebox products have long kept you feeling that
> you are at the top of current technology, running with the fast crowd,
> simply owning and using the best you can possibly get. And be proud of
> it. Albeit having a few minor problems, you simply KNEW these would be
> gone soon -- and usually you'd get something better beyond all
> expectations.
>
> Here's how the current development looks to an "outsider" (i.e.,
> someone who knows about product management, development, usability,
> marketing, but also insists in keeping the standpoint of a
> "user"/"buyer") today:
>
> There is no clear path where to go. What are the goals, where is the
> target market?
>
This has been communicated before I believe... but there's a very clear
emphasis on making our products easier to use for the average-joe. To
your point above, the easier the product is to use, the better the
emotional response will be.
Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
>
> We keep adding "glitz" and pomp. Because we don't know how to focus
> on the basic problems and hope the user won't mind lack of basic
> functionality because there's so much "nice" stuff.
>
I'd argue that since Duet was released (and subsequently, Boom) we've
made almost no "glitzy" upgrades. We've been focused almost exclusively
on improving the quality of our software from bottom to top. Only with
the most recent 7.4 beta firmwares for Squeezebox Controller have we
begun work on improving the UI "glitziness".
Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
>
> Bugs long gone and repaired keep surfacing again. And again. Ideas
> comes to mind, like "Do they ever USE their stuff themselves?" ... "Why
> the heck do we have to fight the character set wars again and again
> since 30 years? Don't they ever learn that there ARE characters beyond
> 0-9 and A-Z?"
>
Are you referring to recent 7.4 betas, or our released software?
Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
>
> It's all too technical. I want MUSIC. And the BEST and most USABLE
> way to handle it. Today, it's all about bug fixing, Perl programming,
> product name changes, database issues no one understands (and which they
> take back after investing so much efforts into a solution that's worse
> than before -- and while they take back the changes to "what we got
> before", they break even what we HAD before!).
>
The recent switch in our 7.4 *BETA* Squeezebox Server builds from
SQLite back to MySQL was exactly for that reason ... that we're trying
to make sure when the 7.4 software is shipped that it is as stable as
possible. We remain committed to migrating Squeezebox Server to SQLite
(and there is still a branch of code based on that migration), but we
want to make sure that when that change ships, its even more reliable
than our existing MySQL system. To that end, we've pushed the SQLite
switch off to the 8.0 software release. This was explained in the beta
forums when the switch occurred.
Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
>
> Even (external) developers get frustrated -- after investing so many
> countless hours into repairing things that get broken again next day.
> (Yes, the code IS great; yes, they have thought about almost everything
> already; but they keep overlooking SIMPLE things over and over again --
> probably because no one has shown them that some things ARE important to
> USERS. Even with Open Source, goals need to be defined, and milestones
> met. And everyone in the team needs to know "where we all want to go".)
>
Sorry, can you elaborate with detail? I'm not sure what you're
referring to...
Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
>
> Look at the "new" controller firmware. It LOOKS worse. It's unusable
> beyond expectation. It needs more keystrokes for simple functions. It
> doesn't behave logical or even consistent. BUT it has overlaid screens
> that nobody needs, it overlaps badly rendered cover images with status
> lines, it uses LARGE fonts so that you have to wait for some information
> to scroll until -- in the middle of reading -- the screensaver pops in
> and you have to press yet another key ... Aaaargh! It has a zillion
> "effects" that DISTRACT (instead of FOCUSING) the user's attention,
> while lacking some basic functionality. Oh well, and it has "apps"! Does
> anyone need "apps" while the basics don't function yet? ... I doubt it.
>
The newest controller firmware for the 7.4 *BETA* software is, to put
it simply, "not done." Its an extremely early development build that
we've pushed out to the developer community with the intention of
getting as many eyes on it as possible. Looks are subjective -- you may
dislike the new UI changes, just as I might like them quite a bit, so
lets leave looks out of this for now.
Its absolutely a useable firmware, if your a developer. The 7.4
software is considered "unstable" and is only meant to be run by users
who are willing to deal with the issues in it, as they come up. There is
a reason why we do not push the 7.4 software into the "TESTING"
repositories for the Linux builds.
Although you may only see the new UI changes to the 7.4 Controller
firmware, it has been hugely re-written. Major upgrades to the way
networking, audio playback (headphone jack), and players are handled.
Also sweeping re-work of the UI to reduce the number of clicks required
to get to various features, and upgrades to features that were just not
quite right before.
Lastly, there are huge changes in how the controller handles switching
between SqueezeNetwork and Squeezebox Server that although are not yet
done, have required significant engineering time to implement. This work
has been mostly behind-the-scenes because it simply has not been ready
for the community to use until very recently.
Moonbase;449092 Wrote:
>
> It's great to let the "tech kiddies" show off. And they can actually
> be a very valuable resource -- if LEAD correctly. PLEASE, Logitech, hire
> someone who knows about USABILITY. And probably how to manage a product
> line.
> It still IS (could be?) such a great product line. Don't throw it
> away like this.
>
This reads like a rant. It is. Because I still love the product and the
ideas behind it. (Emotion, remember?) I hope that the right people can
understand my current frustration. And ACT.
I really wouldn't like to see others "winning" in spite of having
higher prices and worse technology. But knowing what the customer
wants.
Keep the promise! Even if it's only in our heads.
Thank you for reading.
--
Matt Wise
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Wise's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13773
View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=66745
_______________________________________________
discuss mailing list
discuss@lists.slimdevices.com
http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
