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[loddie]

Perhaps i’m Late, but people (including me) want:

1. Easy on the eyes. Thus a great UI. JRiver falls short. Hire someone with the skills if needed.
2. Easy to use. Voice control. I was skeptical, but I will be making everything in my house voice controlled, if possible. Why pick up a remote, unlock phone/navigate or go to a computer to play music or do anything else? I disagree voice control is a short term gimmick as it is the easiest interface to use. Thus, Siri, Alexa, Google voice support is vital.
3. Privacy. Some voice assistants may compromise privacy. Thus I'm willing to give up some privacy for the convenience if necessary. I'm in the Apple ecosystem and they  seem to be taking privacy seriously now.
4. Documentation. JRiver is very powerful, but I have to spend hours reading threads to learn how to setup and use features. A PDF should be available.
5. Single license fee for OS products.

There is a common theme here. All but #3 are about convenience. JRiver's direct customers are probably 95%+ male. But they share it with family. When family is used to convenience, it becomes expected and the norm. I'm actually to the point I'll give up quality for convenience.

These considerations have all been mentioned, but are worth repeating and they are not intended to be offensive - greatful JRiver exists, but will move on if these areas don’t improve.

I don't really understand #4. How many years has JRiver been around? A least a decade?  I get that JRiver may have a large enough team to develop automated setup configuration wizards that bigger companies can do. But it is inconceivable the product doesn't have a manual. I'm grateful the team is helpful on the forums. However, their time would be better spent developing a great product. If a manual exists, the team could spend more time developing and point users to Rev2, p56. Or other forum members could do the same. If I were managing JRiver, I'd immediately implement a policy of no new features are released until documented for users in a manual. What is the benefit of a powerful program if the user can't figure how to use it?

[JimH]

I split this from the old Big Picture thread.

Just a couple of responses.

For ease of use, try any of the remotes:
https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Remotes

Same for UI.  Or write your own.

Or Theater View.

The  Master License does cover all OS's.  Phone OS's must go through the app stores.  We can't change that.

Women are about 10% of our customer base.

[MagerClab]

but people (including me) want:

Who are 'people'? You?

'People' (including me  ) don't have much problems with MC. That's why they use it to play, catalogue and work with gazillions of media files. If they have a problem, they look in the wiki, which answers most of the questions. If not, they can always ask here - and if they're not nagging and bragging, they usually will get help.

'People' (including me  ) care about software possibilities, stability, flexibility, THEIR MEDIA FILES - not so much about a stylish UI. When 'People' (including me  ) are listening to music, they listen - and do not watch an UI. When 'People' (including me  ) are watching a movie, they're watching the film, and not an UI.

If 'People' (including me  ) are deeply dissatisfied with a piece of software (or anything in life), they read, study, learn, watch masters do their thing - and THEN try to make things better by themselves.

Are you on track?
   

[EdBrady]

If I were managing JRiver, I'd immediately implement a policy of no new features are released until documented for users in a manual. What is the benefit of a powerful program if the user can't figure how to use it?

I've been saying for years that the lack of documentation is the #1 shortcoming of MC. They've never done anything about it, and I doubt they ever will. It never hurts to keep asking though.

[MikeO]

Whilst I agree the GUI is a bit old looking , how many people actually use the MC GUI to play music

I use it to maintain the library, then I head for my chair where I use
JRemote , or when I had an HTPC, Theatre View,

If love an attention is being considered it JRemote and Theatre View that should get it

Just my 2p

[MagerClab]

I've been saying for years that the lack of documentation is the #1 shortcoming of MC. They've never done anything about it, and I doubt they ever will. It never hurts to keep asking though.

I am looking since years in the wiki, Which IS the (regularly updated) documentation. https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Main_Page