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[JimH]

We are often asked why we don't do something that has been asked for over and over.  I thought I would start a thread to try to explain.

I'm going to lock this thread to keep it clean and brief.  I may start another thread for discussion.

[JimH]

JRemote
A few years ago, user LesPaul developed JRemote and it proved to be very popular.  I asked him if he might like to sell it to us and work for the company full time.  He eventually accepted.  After about a year, he quit.  This left us with code written in a language we don't normally use, on a development platform we don't use, and no significant expertise on iOS.  So JRemote continues to be popular, but we don't expect to work on it. 

[JimH]

Tidal, Spotify, etc
We have done many implementations of such services over the years.  They all went out of business.  We won't do more unless we see a proven business model (in other words, we can earn money by doing it).

The streaming business is like a boat.  It's a place to pour money.  They don't make a profit.  Sometimes an owner gets lucky and someone else buys the business, but usually they expire. 

I've kept a log of failed (and failing) services here:

Why Streaming Struggles[/b]

[JimH]

A Simpler Interface
While we could change the interface, and move somethings around, I don't think it's possible to make an interface that is both simple and powerful.  Moving things would also be a problem to people who know the inteface well.  Windows has changed their user interface for networking so many times that I've given up trying to understand it.

A More Beautiful Interface
While I've seen this requested many times, I've never seen a design and I doubt that people could agree on what it should look like.

A More Intuitive Interface
Same answer.

But we are always open to suggestions.  And we have built a few interfaces that use MC's engine.

Theater View
JRemote
Gizmo
Panel

These are all very different and are all heavily used.

As LesPaul proved, you can use MC's MCWS interface to build something very complex and good looking.

[JimH]

My Favorite Feature
Sometimes an idea that can be expressed in a couple of sentences takes a couple of months to implement and still more time to perfect.  Unless we can expect to sell significantly more copies of JRiver Media Center, it's not practical to do.

Pet Peaves
Same answer.

[JimH]

Here's an important consideration:

Will JRiver Earn More Money?
That's the cruel question that every business must ask.  I have an old accountant friend who likes to say that the key to success is that income exceeds expenses.

We have a first rate, even world class, development team (more or less in order of their time at JRiver):

Bob, Yaobing, JohnT, Matt, Hendrik, and Brad.  Keenan works in the summers.  I'm part of the team for some purposes.

These skilled craftsmen do an amazing job.  I'm extremely proud to work with them.  But we have limits.  To work well, we need to respect these limits.  We can't take on every project.