disclaimer: PSU_Strummer contains mature content some viewers may find offensive.MusicBee is what Songbird wanted to be. But, Songbird doesn't work. Songbird sounds like crap: I've said it before, it's a Firefox extension that wants to be a music player, built by people someone who doesn't
listen to
music, and thus lacks the regular functionality which audiophiles seek. MusicBee, on the other hand, sounds and works as an audiophile might expect-- great-- straight from the box. BASS.DLL baby... aww yeah! Songbird takes forever to do
anything, not to mention-- it crashes-- while doing it! But, look at that damn 'bird community! Why do people
flock to support it? Is it because everyone-and-their-brother can rewrite some stolen javascript as XUL, to bandwagon to panhandle donations, by submitting some junk add-on to link off-site to their own web site? It can't be because it sounds good, and works well. It just doesn't make sense. The speculation points toward the former-- the ability to
develop for it-- the “hack-on-this everyone, why don't you” call to all, which invites so many to believe it's a solid nesting place for... uh...
music?Anyway-- enough Songbird bashing. I shouldn't do that. I'm sorry. But, I'm trying to make a point. I believe there is beauty in the fact that MusicBee is not inviting the same sort of open participation in development. Why? Because everyone is
not a developer. So, I've established something of a comparison. Where am I going with this? What are the
facts, or rather... what are the points of the argument?
PROS N CONS:Songbird- pro: community thrives on satisfaction, not unlike that which perpetuates the “NIH Syndrome”. Users are satisfied to use something they've so-called built.
- con: “constant... over... stimulation” [M.Keenan] There's too much going on, all over the place. It is not focused on the suggested purpose: to be a fine media player
- ...and it goes on. this isn't a 'bird forum. okay.
MusicBee- pro: BASS.DLL
- pro: what you see is what you get-- no need to search around through endless lists of garbage add-ons, hoping to find something to make it sound or function-- in some way-- better than it does on installation
- pro: there is no urgency presented to the User that he or she must add-on to it, in order to be a member of the community; in order to use it; in order to enjoy it; to do what it is supposed to do: play music well
- pro: it's fast, and it doesn't crash. it just works
- cons: i can't think of any. i haven't found any yet (granted, this is a biased argument, i suppose, but hey-- isn't that the reason you're reading it?)
Now that some argument has been laid-out, what do we do with the propaganda spewing from 'tween but his cheeks?
I forgot for a minute-- but I remember now: Here's what I was thinking. There appears to be a
browser built-in to MusicBee. Perhaps the facility exists already, and I haven't figured out how to do it, or maybe it's just not there.
I was thinking it would be cool to be able to do some
browsing from within MusicBee. Now I know that's not the point of an audio-player, necessarily, however-- i've added a custom URL to the tab selections available in the
main panel area-- so, not only can I look at the
artist-bio bit, as built-in, but I have it going to
last.fm/music/<Artist> as well, and I-- yeah, the guy bitching about security-- logged into his Last.Fm account through that separate interface. Why? I dunno-- but it seems i can consume additional stimulation that way. haha... but, the point is-- it's limited, presently. I'm middle-clicking on stuff from force-of-habit. Nothing happens. That was the inspiration for posting another manifesto. I guess that's all. chew on that, if you will. “Hey-- who's the barber here!?” uh... not me.
my apologies to anyone who takes offense to this argument, or the rhetoric herein