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threemonkeysI seem to have been thinking about Winamp in that last day or so. It started with wondering if there was a Winamp version for Linux. Unlikely given the name, but it could have happened. Turns out, it was tried but not completed.
But why was I looking when Linux has a bunch of music players of its own that will run under Ubuntu? Because none of them are as good as Winamp - that's why. I auditioned quite a few and read even more reviews. Sure, there are some that are satisfactory for basic use, but Winamp is a very mature product and it shows in the feature list but also in the ease of use. It is that combination that is the key. The simple things that you do regularly, like just finding a song and playing it, are right there and easy to find but all those extra cool tools are there if you want them.
This eulogising is prompted by an example of how not to build a complex application. I'm referring again to the MySky decoder interface. I complained about it when I first got the decoder box about how much harder it was to use than the previous decoder. Well, they have "improved" it by adding features. Nothing wrong with the features, but they have been thrown in in such a way as the make common important functions harder to get to. They really need to learn a lesson from Winamp.
But why was I looking when Linux has a bunch of music players of its own that will run under Ubuntu? Because none of them are as good as Winamp - that's why. I auditioned quite a few and read even more reviews. Sure, there are some that are satisfactory for basic use, but Winamp is a very mature product and it shows in the feature list but also in the ease of use. It is that combination that is the key. The simple things that you do regularly, like just finding a song and playing it, are right there and easy to find but all those extra cool tools are there if you want them.
This eulogising is prompted by an example of how not to build a complex application. I'm referring again to the MySky decoder interface. I complained about it when I first got the decoder box about how much harder it was to use than the previous decoder. Well, they have "improved" it by adding features. Nothing wrong with the features, but they have been thrown in in such a way as the make common important functions harder to get to. They really need to learn a lesson from Winamp.