Comments on: It Might Not Change Your Life, But Songbird is Cool http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2006/10/05/it-might-not-change-your-life-but-songbird-is-cool/ because technology is just another ecosystem Fri, 05 Dec 2008 17:23:24 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: stephen o'grady http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2006/10/05/it-might-not-change-your-life-but-songbird-is-cool/#comment-2463 stephen o'grady Mon, 09 Oct 2006 03:04:49 +0000 http://redmonk.com/sogrady/wp/?p=1103#comment-2463 Ric: i'm similarly impressed, obviously. what will be interesting to see is whether or not the cross-platform aspect becomes a real, true differentiator. Matt: well, i don't think they copied it wholesale, but yes it is similar. i actually wish they'd take it a bit further and copy the iTunes shortcut keys, (CTL-arrow, spacebar, etc), but won't hold my breath. as for the web kit embedding, i guess what differentiates it for me is that Songbird allows you to open any web page in the context of the player. far as i know, iTunes can't do that. Ric: i’m similarly impressed, obviously. what will be interesting to see is whether or not the cross-platform aspect becomes a real, true differentiator.

Matt: well, i don’t think they copied it wholesale, but yes it is similar. i actually wish they’d take it a bit further and copy the iTunes shortcut keys, (CTL-arrow, spacebar, etc), but won’t hold my breath.

as for the web kit embedding, i guess what differentiates it for me is that Songbird allows you to open any web page in the context of the player. far as i know, iTunes can’t do that.

]]> By: Matt Chaput http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2006/10/05/it-might-not-change-your-life-but-songbird-is-cool/#comment-2462 Matt Chaput Fri, 06 Oct 2006 17:32:23 +0000 http://redmonk.com/sogrady/wp/?p=1103#comment-2462 A "bit" iTune-"ish"? I'd hate to see what a straight rip-off would look like (oh wait -- LSongs!). At least they changed the color scheme. I suppose it's inevitable that a good design becomes the new baseline, but it's sad for the people who put the work into the original iTunes layout. It looks like they're going to do some interesting things with the web integration (where's the CC free music un-store?), but it's not unique in terms of technology -- iTunes uses WebKit embedding to do the iTunes store pages. A “bit” iTune-”ish”? I’d hate to see what a straight rip-off would look like (oh wait — LSongs!). At least they changed the color scheme. I suppose it’s inevitable that a good design becomes the new baseline, but it’s sad for the people who put the work into the original iTunes layout.

It looks like they’re going to do some interesting things with the web integration (where’s the CC free music un-store?), but it’s not unique in terms of technology — iTunes uses WebKit embedding to do the iTunes store pages.

]]> By: Ric http://redmonk.com/sogrady/2006/10/05/it-might-not-change-your-life-but-songbird-is-cool/#comment-2461 Ric Fri, 06 Oct 2006 06:44:45 +0000 http://redmonk.com/sogrady/wp/?p=1103#comment-2461 I started playing with an earlier version, and it was quite flaky, but showed some promise. Certainly the eye-candy is an attraction, and a later version has been a considerable improvement in stability. Worth keeping an eye on, particularly as it's cross-platform. I started playing with an earlier version, and it was quite flaky, but showed some promise. Certainly the eye-candy is an attraction, and a later version has been a considerable improvement in stability. Worth keeping an eye on, particularly as it’s cross-platform.

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