mick_w wrote:
Using a PC as an User Interface for a Squeezebox might be fine for some
users, as long as your PC is in the same room as your player...
Mostly, yes. But I control the SB's in my other rooms from a laptop in
the living occasionally. I use the web interface for controlling
playback approx. 50% of the time. More if I count remote softsqueeze use.
(But if your going to have a PC next to your stereo, why bother with a
Squeezebox at all - why don't you just wire your sound card to your amp
directly and use your favourite player software ?)
I don't know if you noticed, but for many people PC equals laptop these
days and laptops are usually wireless and mobile, it's not real handy to
hook them up to your sound system with a wire, don't you think? I often
control my SB's from my wireless laptop and so does my girlfriend from
her wireless laptop. We spend a reasonable amount of time behind our
laptops (or PC's in the study).
I'm sitting behind my laptop right now. If I want to play some music I'm
definitely not going to pick up my SB remote to do it. I'll open my
browser and do it from here. The SB is 9 meters away and my eyes are
just not good enough.
Controlling your Squeezebox with your PC just isn't an option for some
(most?) users if:
- They prefer to have the PC in a different room
My laptops move, I have 4 SB's in different rooms.
- They run SlimServer on a headless server
I run slimserver on a headless Linux server which has been running (in
various hardware incarnations) for about 13 years (just so you'll
understand I'm not a clueless newbie ;) ).
- They have a Squeezebox in several rooms
I do. I still use the web interface a lot. When I play music with
SoftSqueeze at my place of work (over the ADSL line) I use the web
interface to control slimserver.
As far as I'm concerned SlimServer is purely a music server application
to stream music to different rooms in my house from a remote server, and
it does that extremely well.
That's wonderful. I use mine for lots of other things to, like
controlling my MythTV, for waking me up in the morning as a weather
station and as a clock too!
A fancy Windows specific front end with added functionality (ripping,
tagging, etc...) has no appeal to me as like many other users I run
SlimServer on a headless Linux server.
It appears that your usage pattern is a bit different from mine. Also I
guess, it will be different from most other users. The same goes for me,
of course.
It is essential SlimServer keeps it's web base UI so it can be ran and
administered remotely on a server.
Absolutely, few people advocate getting rid of it. Some people advocate
modularizing it. I think that would probably be a good idea.
(I'm convinced the future will be running SlimServer on dedicated NAS /
Server box rather than having a PC powered up constantly).
If slimserver is all you use your server for, yes. Servers are useful
for loads of things. NAS'es are a bit slow for me.
I currently use my PC only to rip my music and copy them to the server.
There are lots of good software packages available to do this, so what
benefit would a Windows specific "SlimServer deluxe" have for me?
I'm not advocating an included ripping application. There are lots of
good and friendly rippers, there's no good SS UI (IMHO).
My personal opinion is the effort would be better spent developing a
dedicated graphical hand held wi-fi remote (similar to the Nokia
770/800) - surely this would have a far more widespread appeal?
Problem is that it would be expensive to make even in volume, ask Sonos.
Adding a slick client app would benefit the existing users and add value
to the standard SB offering (which is not selling like hotcakes) so that
other people will more readily buy one. If you read a
Squeezebox/Transporter review and they include a picture of the system
and a screenshot of the web interface, the first looks slick (especially
with the new remote) but the second looks cheap and clunky. Selling
things is also about having an attractive package. The web interface is
not that attractive. This is a problem because every article that
reviews an SD product has to explain that this is a software/hardware
combo. Since you can't really 'show' slimserver, they'll show the web
interface. It just doesn't look very attractive. This forum is full of
people complaining about it. I wouldn't mind a good alternative myself.
Do you think people that use the Sonos system think "...If only I could
use my PC rather than that graphical remote..."?
I would, but then again I'm a different user than you, obviously. When
I'm behind my laptop I'd like to control everything from my laptop. I'm
not that far yet, but I can control the music all over my house from
here and I can watch television and schedule tv recordings from here.
Regards,
Peter (from behind his laptop)
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