Are people writing AOL? I am serious.. I was amazed during oneo f the Nine Eleven fundraisers hosted by AOL that oone of their telephone volunteers knew all about the legitimate compalints by blind people about AOL. I am willing to write and call on this issue.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Gary Wood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "PC audio discussion list. " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2004 11:26 AM Subject: Re: The Future of Winamp > 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] _______________________________________________ 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]
