fonzo.biz

So last night I got hit with an interesting surprise. As
most of my friends know, I am what some folks may refer to as a techno-geek,
computer-nerd, technophile, etc. If you do not know what that is, it basically
means I am in love with technology. I love technology so much in fact, that many
(my lady friend included) say my computer is my first love, and that I simply
would not be able to function without it. And to some degree, that is
absolutely true. So therefore, it was no surprise that I got a jolt of energy
last night when I noticed a link on the front-page of yahoo.com to nothing more
than a brand spanking new media player by Yahoo! themselves called the Yahoo!
Music Engine. I quickly clicked a couple of links, downloaded the player,
installed it, and got to fiddling around with it a bit. I was a little hesitant
at first, because it was already past my bedtime, but losing a few hours of
sleep is always acceptable when spiffy new computer software/hardware is
involved. Anyway, here are my thoughts (likes and dislikes) on the new player
and why it will (or will not) take over the market. 

Naturally, I have to compare the Yahoo! attempt to Apple’s
iTunes and Microsoft’s Windows Media Player (WMP). I have to compare the three
because WMP is on every Windows machine right now, and because iTunes, in my
opinion, is the best damn music player available (for free) at the moment.
Also, I know these are the two programs which Yahoo! is going to be targeting
as their main competition, so it is only fair to see how the three stack up
against one another.

Oh, and before I continue, just to let everyone know, iTunes
is a FREE program. You DO NOT have to buy songs from the iTunes Music Store to
use the program. It will play all of the mp3s you have on your computer without
ever having to purchase anything from Apple. 

[LIKES]

• Being
  able to rate songs on the radio and have them appear more often is an
  incredibly nice feature. Very similar to the approach WMP took, but
  implemented much better.
• The ability
  to rate the artist/album as well as the song is an incredibly nice feature
  as well, and one I have been waiting to see for quite some time.
• It automatically
  scans folders for changes to your music collection. This is one feature
  that iTunes is missing. I hate having to manually re-add the folder so it
  will notice the changes. 

[DISLIKES]

• Currently
  does not support embedded artwork. I am sure this will be fixed in the
  future, but currently, it does not support it.
• Does
  not play Yahoo! music videos. I thought this would definitely be an
  included feature that would give Yahoo! Music Engine an edge. They already
  have the groundwork laid with Launch, now all they need to do is tie it all
  together. I am incredibly disappointed this is not already included,
  especially since iTunes has easy access to music videos. I figured Yahoo!
  could one-up both iTunes and WMP.
• Requires
  Yahoo! Messenger to be installed. I understand they did this because
  Yahoo! Music Engine uses Yahoo! Messenger to share music, but I still hate
  the fact that they did it. For starters, I have enough IM clients. I do
  not want, or need, anymore. To add to that, I hate this bundling that
  everyone is doing lately. MS bundles IE with MSN7, AOL is bundling its own
  web browser with AIM, and now Yahoo! is bundling its Messenger with its
  new Music Engine. Grrrrr. STOP IT!! STOP IT!!! STOP IT!!!
• Design/Interface
  is built with iTunes in mind. This could be a good thing, but the Yahoo!
  interface is just simply not as good/intuitive/user friendly as the iTunes
  interface. You would think they would be able to improve upon what iTunes
  did, but nope. To me, this is an important (if not the most important) feature,
  as you can throw in an amazing amount of cool stuff into a piece of
  software, but if it is difficult to access/use, people (myself included)
  simply will not use them. Unfortunately for Yahoo!, it looks like this may
  be the case with Yahoo! Music Engine, as I can already see signs of areas
  (burning songs) which are just a tab bit too difficult.
• System
  resources. I used to think iTunes used up a lot of system resources, well,
  Yahoo! Music Engine uses up even more. And to make matters worse, you also
  have miscellaneous services using up resources and the Yahoo! Messenger
  client using up even more systems resources. Not good, not good at all, as
  I like my system to run as lean as possible.
• I
  cannot simply pinpoint this complaint to Yahoo! Music Engine, as it is
  across the board on all music players; import ratings. If Yahoo! can create
  this feature, allowing me with the push of a button to import the 1,000+
  ratings I already have in iTunes, I would be a very happy Yahoo! user.
• It
  uses Internet Explorer (IE). I hate this. Programs need to stop making their
  service depend on other programs, especially IE. I personally use Firefox,
  have it set as my default browser, and never open IE on my computer.
  Therefore, I get just a bit irritated when I click on a link within Yahoo!
  Music Engine and lo and behold, IE opens up. 

[CONCLUSION]

The player has a lot to offer, especially since it is only
in beta status at the moment. If you have no idea what beta means, it basically
means that the product is not ready for retail. And what that means is you can
expect more and better stuff to be included in the final package of Yahoo!
Music Engine.

However, at the moment, this player simply does not have
what it takes to take over iTunes spot as my music player of choice. It does
however have potential, a lot of potential, particularly in the area of its
internet radio features. I simply love the fact that a radio station can be
tailored to my tastes, especially since my tastes usually encompass genres
which are never played on any one given radio station (Common and System of A
Down anyone?).