I'm with Ken on this one. If someone wants change, then they can implement it, record a show about it, and when the admins get around to it, the change can be implemented.
Personally I like the digital voice. A lot. It's free, it has been developed by real people who volunteer their time and effort, just like us, and it sounds cool. It's not specifically meant for people without sight, as far as I know, and it provides people listening to shows on-the-go (as many listeners do) a chance to skip the episode if they are not interested in the topic. In short, I'm a happy camper with the intro and outro. Also, I probably owe HPR a show, and I'm working on it, I promise. Cheers! -klaatu On 11/26/2014 05:49 AM, Ken Fallon wrote: > Forwarding this with permission of the sender. > > I have replied and will forward that as well. > > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > Subject: Constructive criticism > Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 07:00:25 -0500 > From: ********************** > To: [email protected] > > Hello, > > I have been listening to HPR for about 6 months now. When I first > started listening my immediate reaction was "This intro music is WAY too > long, especially when some of the shows are only a few minutes long." > Since then advertisements and an annoying synthesized voice have been > added to the front as well, in some cases lasting almost 2 minutes > before getting to the content. > > I'm not opposed to the synthesized voice idea (I think it's actually a > great idea to make the show more handicap accessible), but this voice > comes from the technology of the 1980s, and since this is a show for > techies there MUST be something available out there that was generated > in the past 20 years and sounds a little better! Half the time I can't > understand what the voice is trying to say! > > I also know that advertisements are needed to generate revenue for the > show, but is it really necessary on shows that are only 2 or 3 minutes > long? > > If I were king of the world, I would either shorten the intro music, or > come up with a new intro all together that lasts about 10 seconds or > less. That's really all that is needed for the listeners to recognize > the show. I would also find another voice synthesizer out there, or > have the host create a short sound clip of the show title and content to > be submitted with the actual content. This would be MUCH less annoying > to the listeners. Advertising would be restricted to shows that have > content greater than 5 minutes. > > I often collect a few weeks of HPR before listening, and it is extremely > frustrating to try to fast forward through the intro while I am driving > down the road. I would be much more inclined to listen to the entire > intro if it were shortened. Sometimes I will just skip the entire > episode if it only has 2 or 3 minutes of content. I'm sometimes tempted > to stop downloading the show entirely because the frustration usually > isn't worth the pay off. > > I hope this is helpful. If I continue listening in the future I may > contribute some episodes myself, but I'm right on the edge of dropping > the feed entirely. > > ********************** > > > > _______________________________________________ > Hpr mailing list > [email protected] > http://hackerpublicradio.org/mailman/listinfo/hpr_hackerpublicradio.org > > _______________________________________________ Hpr mailing list [email protected] http://hackerpublicradio.org/mailman/listinfo/hpr_hackerpublicradio.org
