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[JimH]

galahad,
Thanks for the ideas.  ebooks may work now.  Kindle does.  Others could be probably configured in MC by a user.

[HTPC4ME]

i would love the ability to incorporate something like comic rack into jriver. where i can view my endless library of ebooks, pdf's, and .cbr files.  that way all my media files are in one program. and looks nice and neat and can be sorted to my hearts content

also loving the one remote idea

[Tolga]

My two cents for a big direction:

Web media integration in theater view

integration with online television source such as hulu, abc online, fox online, netflix, youtube, etc. Checkout hulu labs desktop viewer or netflix player as examples.

I want to be able to access them, switch between shows in theater view, without leaving my potato chips (so I can use only one finger, mouse is out of question). This may require some negotiation with content providers but who ever does it first, rules the future of TV (and the world consequently). I am nominating MC for world domination.

[richard.e.morton]

integration with online television source such as hulu, abc online, fox online, netflix, youtube, etc.

here here...

Ive been playing with MythTV and LinuxMCE. Both could learn alot from MC and more importantly; the other way around. Myth has integration with various stream providers including YouTube, Apple Film Trailers and all from their 10' UI.

and heres some other ideas:

Talking about UIs I still think the 10' UI has limited life left as the main UI. It will always be around but the main control system for devices I believe will be tablets and touch phones, where the information is shown on the tablet screen and the playback of the selected media on the TV. In some cases there will be a need to interact with the 10' UI (like when the other half asks to read the programme information) and in that case the information on the tablet and the info on the screen should be syncronised...

Although I think context based systems like LinuxMCE (auto dimming of lights and closing of curtains when you start playing back a film) has its place...  I just dont think they'll be mainstream for at least a number of years and will likely remain the preserve of new-build and pro-install... they just require too many wires (like new lighting circuits and radios and even power to the curtains rails).

Further ideas;

Scheduling programs to record via a web interface from a web EPG for record while out and about - to take it one step further it'd be great if this could be controlled from the same interface for the iPhone and Android phones (as described in the above paragraph) the phone interface would need to sense it is not on the (right) wifi network and gracefully reduce functionality to enable EPG and scheduling, system status etc).

I think the TV portions need to be boosted (record multiple shows out of a single multiplex simultaneously - Myth can record every channel in one multiplex simultanously using a single tuner); and support for multiple tuners across multiiple channel providers (UK - FreeSat and Freeview simutaneously) although I have not looked at MC TV capability quite a while; but I haven't seen any announcements about improvements.

Commercial beginning and end flagging; so you can auto skip to the next program section.

Auto video transcoding (so the program is smaller and can be streamed fully by MC to other devices)

Full client/server editing of the library (with a privilege system to prevent unauthorised changes).

So. I'd stay away from this context based tech which has and will remain the preserve of the few; and lets embrace the tech which is already in the mainstream ( well mainstream with the folks who would buy this sort of software - iPhones, Android, tablets like the Nokia N800). These can be used to create a more integrated environment.

Wouldn't it be cool to be watching a program in one room move it seamlessly to another all controlled from your personal phone.

Rich

[galahad1974]

you can manage ebooks as a document type, but all the fields need to be custom created, and it will not let you view or configure and export to other formats.  in addition it won't sync to the sony (second to the kindle in popularity).  Check out Caliber (http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/) for an idea of whats needed, but nowhere near what MC could do.

[HTPC4ME]

galahad from readng and following this post i went into options and chose import pdfs for one folder. they all come into jriver, but they all have df icon and ya cant see the covers, and when ya double click on it to view it it just opens up abe pdf reader... are you saying you've managed to show covers and read the pdf's from within jriver?  if so could you maybe post directions in the forum somewhere?  i'm REALLY intersted in using jriver to view instead of Comic rack...TY for your time

[galahad1974]

No, im saying i wish i could do that, and with more useful formats than pdf. right now i use caliber. i was saying you could use mc to organize the files locations if you wanted, but not much else.  I have about 20,00o Ebooks right now, so i use Caliber. Id love to use MC.

[JimH]

Could you start a new thread with details on what you need?

[galahad1974]

Sure!!

[jacky]

The current trend certainly appears to be heading this way, but we may not yet be able to see where this is all heading, and the market could split.  Take, for example, the people who feel they no longer need a camera now that their phone has a 7MP camera in it.  This will certainly take a bite out of the camera market, but it will never kill it.  There is simply too large of a quality gap between phone cameras and "real" cameras due to lens and sensor size issues.

Personally, I'd rather have a larger screen on a video player, GPS, and organizer, and I want a larger, more powerful amp in my music player (and a larger screen as well.)  I want a phone, however, to be as small as possible.  Of these devices, the phone is the ONLY one that I want to have with me at all times.  What I DON'T want is to listen to music on a phone with a tiny, crappy amp in it, or to try to use a calendar on a screen that's just too small.  I also don't want a honking big phone (like an iPhone) that I have to carry around all the time.  I don't know what the answer is, but there might still be enough disagreement in the market that more than one approach will continue -- i.e. that "all in ones" might not end up wiping everything else out.  I certainly hope we end up with some alternatives.

Larry

Cell phones shouldn't really need powerful amps.  If you want to listen to high quality audio, you've gotta be kidding yourself if you think any mobile device can deliver.  For "on the go" music experience, I find Bluetooth A2DP stereo audio, off loading the amp responsibilities to powered headphones more than satisfying.

[wig]

I would like to see J River offer a true jukebox experience. I know several attempts have been made in the past, but they still fall short of what, as a true jukebox afficianado, I am looking for. The following features would be great additions for the true barroom jukebox experience.

- A 'jukebox' mode that would prevent the removal of tracks from the playlist, and not allow users to skip tracks or add their music to the top of the playlist.

- 'Jukebox' profiles that would only allow access to certain tracks, based on tag criteria (if you wanted to make only 70's music available from your collection, for example). It would also include the ability to only display certain albums while browsing, while making other tracks available via search (for very large collections).

- Having tracks removed from the playlist once they have been playlist

- A flexible shuffle feature, that would approximate a real jukebox (only shuffle the top x percentage of tracks in the playlist, for example).

There are lots of others, but these are the basic effects that would transform J River from a quality personal music organizer into a smash party jukebox.

[ShayB]

I would like a developing team to continue to add features to the product.
I share the vision of making MC to be the first and last software for all needs (I am tracking it from V8) and also share the vision to make the PC into the center of the media life. I started connecting my computer to my stereo and TV a long time ago but till the media center's came I was frustrated.

for this MC lacks many things that I have to find else where.

I would like to see MC be able to do:

1. dbpoweramp convert                         (explorer extension)
2. dbpoweramp yellow-pop up tag info (explorer extension)
3. nero video convert to make DVD's
4. nero / super / avi-ocnverting software   to convert from one format to the other
5. search / embed sub-titles for video files
6. search / embed lyrics for audio files
7. conversion of all audio file using replay gain to other/same format (mainly loss-less ones)
8. goldwave capabilities like more editing capabilities for audio/video files (cut/paste..)

9. more photoshop basics for images
10. CR2 support for cannon raw photo (mainly better brousing speed, able to control the negative parameters)

As you can see, I am using the MC as a work/edit platform and less as presentation because I don't have enough time to sit down and play with all the great media-center features. if I get the time to view a chapter of a title, I grab the file into a USB stick and plug it in the DVD and watch it. not enough time/disk space to be able to start browsing in my library of video titles.

[kamiller42]

It is good to see a thread opened to talk about grand ideas of the next Media Center. There are many good ideas in the thread.

Like some have said, I am still waiting on MC to get the basics done right. I would like to see the following:

1. A Status column in the burner window that is really useful. When it's preparing an ISO, why not show a progress bar for the file currently being transcoded like the way it works in the device synchronize window?

2. In this age of dual and quad core chips, I want to be able to set the number of LAME transcode threads during a data CD/DVD burn. It's currently locked to one.

3. Native support for M4A. This is less an issue that it was for me because I converted everything to FLAC. I converted because MC works far better with FLAC, a natively supported format, than M4A.

[nodyad]

There are lots of good comments in this thread--I enjoyed reading about some of the future prospects (along with those in the "Where do we go next" thread).

I recently bought a Acer Aspire AX1700 that was on sale for under $400, and replaced the Vista drive with Windows 7.  For me, this machine is right in that price point for the MC/PC device, given that I needed to add a USB tuner and any software.



My biggest pain point with my current setup is the remote hell I live in... the TV coordinates many of the picture inputs, but not the audio--so I need my multi-input Onkyo to switch between input sources in order to hear the video streams. Only the BD player integrates its audio with the TV remote via HDMI. I would get rid of the digital cable box in a heartbeat if FIOS or U-Verse were in my neighborhood--so I'm stuck with that box and remote for the time being. The Acer box, at least, lets me tap access the media throughout my LAN using MC. I'll need to upgrade the DVD player to a BD player someday, but I use more streaming video than discs anyway. I just can't get the Pinnacle 80e TV stick to work under Win 7 yet, otherwise the OTA TV option would be fully a done deal as well on one media device. So if I can eventually drive all my media services onto this Acer box, I think I could get by with just the TV remote and the RF keyboard and mouse.

Anyway, if you had a way to simplify any/all of this non-wife-approved mishmash and get to one control (saw your site, fully agree), I'd be mighty grateful, and would purchase such a device.

[JimH]

I just can't get the Pinnacle 80e TV stick to work under Win 7 yet

Their Vista driver works for us on W7.  Please start a new thread on the TV board here if you need more information.

[skylarplane]

It would be finally great have some type of online webcast/video to show how all your
options for this software works.  I know it has many but I only use it to store and
play my music.  This think this would widen the use of your software to more and
more people if they knew how to use all of its options.

Skylar

[HTPC4ME]

i agree, and whenever a new version comes out, a more detailed explanation on where to find the options and what the technicals terms do.. this way people / new customers will know what each option is and located


great idea!

[rpalmer68]

Anyway, if you had a way to simplify any/all of this non-wife-approved mishmash and get to one control (saw your site, fully agree), I'd be mighty grateful, and would purchase such a device.

I don't know if such a device will ever really exist ... I ended up using girder, netremote, a Dell Axim x51v, some serial ports on my PC (Use serial to control TV amd amp) and a USB-UIRT to send IR stuff from the PC to the IR devices.

I now have "Almost" 100% WAF score, except when windows/MC or Girder crash!

Richard

[ThoBar]

I'm not sure if its been mentioned anywhere for a while - esp. wrt to MC14, but I'd really like the following couple of things....

- TV PiP,PoP ... This is almost a necessity in my house! (maybe as a second zone even?)
- Showing *something* on an Audio-only station (OK, I know there's often better options, but hey, it's convenient to use sometimes)

[john2608]

What about adding support for XM/Sirius online? I'd love to be able to pull up a view on the TV with the current song title/artist and be able to set up some favorite channels.

[SeaDrive]

I loaded .11 on my thinkpad tablet this weekend and configured it as my client. The Thinkpad is probably a bit overkill but I already own it so I figured why not. I tried to use the thinkpad as a tablet PC with the touchscreen interface only just to see how user friendly MC can be. I passed the tablet around to some average people that were over for a party and made some notes. Here are a few of my observations/suggestions:

1) Allow a configuration option to restrict MC to Theater View only. Existing out of Theater view will exit MC completely. Currently if the user exits Theater view and ends up in library view it gets ugly with a touchscreen and uneducated user. For a maintenance perspective the shortcut keys (CTRL-1, etc) would still work for maintenance.

2) Clicking menu items in Theater View should adhere to the same rules as the Pressing Enter option (open item or show menu.)  Without that menu feature attempting to start playback of a playlist just opens the contents and leave the user confused.

3) I noticed that people enjoyed browsing or searching my music collection. Naturally they want to add tracks to the current playlist as they browse. Every time somebody pressed Play they reset the playing now playlist. I know they can Add as nect to play or Add to end, etc but it would really be neat to have the ability to send the track to an 'On The Go' playlist. This allows people to build a playlist while browsing media and playback at any time. Plus, in the event that somebody uses the play option and clears the Playing Now list the On The Go list can be restarted.


4) Zone playback from a client. Even if it isn;t possible to switch zones on the fly maybe it could be an option when connecting to the library server along with "Play Here or Play There" I could live with that.

5) Related to the above item: A bottun in Theater View that would close and re-launch MC. This would allow the switching of zones.  In addition it would give the flexibility to control "Play Here Play There." For Example, I lauch MC and choose Play There. I select an audio playlist and start playback. While listening to the playlist I may want to browse other media (images, etc.) I would re-lauch MC and choose Play Here. Now I can playback a slideshow or any other media from the library server on the client PC. The ability to restrict to Theater view from #1 above would also be a viable alternative since it would be easier to exit and restart.

Just my $.02. I'm sure there will be more along the way.

[JimH]

SeaDrive,
Thanks for the feedback.  You might be able to do #3 by changing the setting in MC.  Tools/Options/General/Behavior.

[datdude]

I loaded .11 on my thinkpad tablet this weekend and configured it as my client. The Thinkpad is probably a bit overkill but I already own it so I figured why not. I tried to use the thinkpad as a tablet PC with the touchscreen interface only just to see how user friendly MC can be. I passed the tablet around to some average people that were over for a party and made some notes. Here are a few of my observations/suggestions:

1) Allow a configuration option to restrict MC to Theater View only. Existing out of Theater view will exit MC completely. Currently if the user exits Theater view and ends up in library view it gets ugly with a touchscreen and uneducated user. For a maintenance perspective the shortcut keys (CTRL-1, etc) would still work for maintenance.

2) Clicking menu items in Theater View should adhere to the same rules as the Pressing Enter option (open item or show menu.)  Without that menu feature attempting to start playback of a playlist just opens the contents and leave the user confused.

3) I noticed that people enjoyed browsing or searching my music collection. Naturally they want to add tracks to the current playlist as they browse. Every time somebody pressed Play they reset the playing now playlist. I know they can Add as nect to play or Add to end, etc but it would really be neat to have the ability to send the track to an 'On The Go' playlist. This allows people to build a playlist while browsing media and playback at any time. Plus, in the event that somebody uses the play option and clears the Playing Now list the On The Go list can be restarted.


4) Zone playback from a client. Even if it isn;t possible to switch zones on the fly maybe it could be an option when connecting to the library server along with "Play Here or Play There" I could live with that.

5) Related to the above item: A bottun in Theater View that would close and re-launch MC. This would allow the switching of zones.  In addition it would give the flexibility to control "Play Here Play There." For Example, I lauch MC and choose Play There. I select an audio playlist and start playback. While listening to the playlist I may want to browse other media (images, etc.) I would re-lauch MC and choose Play Here. Now I can playback a slideshow or any other media from the library server on the client PC. The ability to restrict to Theater view from #1 above would also be a viable alternative since it would be easier to exit and restart.

Just my $.02. I'm sure there will be more along the way.

1) MC 13 allready has this abilitiy to exit the program completely.  Just press Exit and then choose the second option System Sleep, Shutdown, and More... That will give you the option to exit close MC out.

2) You can control whether the menu is displayed or not under Tools -> Options -> Theater View -> Behavior -> Enter Key Action: ...

3) I'm not sure how that would be usefull?  Seems like it would make things more confusing.

4) That would be nice!

5) Th doesn't make sense to me.  If you are on the client, just use the client to playback from the server?

[SeaDrive]

1) MC 13 allready has this abilitiy to exit the program completely.  Just press Exit and then choose the second option System Sleep, Shutdown, and More... That will give you the option to exit close MC out. Plus, I'm not crazy about allowing just anyone the option to shut down my system.

2) You can control whether the menu is displayed or not under Tools -> Options -> Theater View -> Behavior -> Enter Key Action: ...

3) I'm not sure how that would be usefull?  Seems like it would make things more confusing.

4) That would be nice!

5) Th doesn't make sense to me.  If you are on the client, just use the client to playback from the server?

1) I know that this already exists but if you choose "Exit Theater View" which is probably a natural choice for most you are retrned to library view. I'm referring to a 'lockdown' of the interface so the user can't get to library view at all.

2) Waht I'm saying is that the Enter Kay action does not apply to a mouse click. If you are using a touchscreen a press of the button emulates a mouse click. Regardless of the Setting of the Enter Key Behavior a mouse click always opens the item.

3) I'm thinking similar to an iPod where you can create an 'On The Go' playlist while browsing your media.

4) Agreed.

5) Not really a big deal. I can easily create a macro that closes MC and re-launches automatically. I just liek the idea of controlling my main media centerand also having the ability to put my portable unit to good use while listening to music or watching videos.

[SeaDrive]

SeaDrive,
Thanks for the feedback.  You might be able to do #3 by changing the setting in MC.  Tools/Options/General/Behavior.

That's what I thought too but the Play option from theater view doesn't seem to honor this setting it just replaces playing now with the selected item regardless of the behavior setting.

[datdude]

3) I'm thinking similar to an iPod where you can create an 'On The Go' playlist while browsing your media.

Ahh.  I definintely do not like that option on my ipod.  I never ever user it.  I really wish they just had a normal playing now/live queued list.  It's like they are stuck back in the 80's or something.

[raym]

3) I noticed that people enjoyed browsing or searching my music collection. Naturally they want to add tracks to the current playlist as they browse. Every time somebody pressed Play they reset the playing now playlist. I know they can Add as nect to play or Add to end, etc but it would really be neat to have the ability to send the track to an 'On The Go' playlist. This allows people to build a playlist while browsing media and playback at any time. Plus, in the event that somebody uses the play option and clears the Playing Now list the On The Go list can be restarted.

Theater View places the last used menu option at the top of the context menu. Therefore, the first time you choose ADD, this will appear at the top automatically meaning users simply need to hit Enter to add content.

This doesn't solve the problem of users hitting PLAY on the remote though and blowing away your playlist. I've complained about this for years and would love an option for PLAY to equal ADD when playback is in progress. This would solve the problem for me and probably for others by the sound of it also.

[flac.rules]

SeaDrive,
Thanks for the feedback.  You might be able to do #3 by changing the setting in MC.  Tools/Options/General/Behavior.

The problem is that play clears the wholw playlist, even with settings that makes double-clicking just add files, the same happens with the play buttons on podcasts and similar. Frankly that behavior is a bit annoying.

[gappie]

This doesn't solve the problem of users hitting PLAY on the remote though and blowing away your playlist. I've complained about this for years and would love an option for PLAY to equal ADD when playback is in progress. This would solve the problem for me and probably for others by the sound of it also.

yep, i also think its a bit of a pain. i would prefer that the play options as can be set for standard view, would also work for thv. in my case, play playing now.

 
gab

[Listener]

> We're thinking about major directions for MC 14, and we could use your help.

> There are some obvious ones -- better movie metadata, polishing, DJ tools, etc.  These will happen.

There are some audio-related things I and others have been asking for.

> What's more challenging is to find a big new direction.  Here are some of the ones we're thinking about.  Please add your own.

> 1.  Whole house media network

I have some enthusiasm for more complete and polished whole house audio features.

> 2.  One remote

Being able to use a hand-held device to control MC FULLY would be quite useful. 

Plugins have limits and are usually built around an Artist-Album-(Song) Name view.

Right now, my wife won't use MC to play music most of the time.  She drags out CDs.

Being able to turn everything on with one click using 12V triggering and wake-on-LAN are important too.

> 3.  Synapse (a media PC)

No thanks.

> 4.  Open the MC database to a coalition of software companies -- RockBox, foobar, MP3 tagger, dbPowerAmp, Zoom Player, etc.

Might be some value for dBpoweramp.  The Rockbox effort seems to have trouble keeping up with new MP3 models. 

Foobar is and Mp3Tag are tweaker products.  What's the point?  I'm using MC because it is a lot less pain to get things done.  (Foobar used to be the darling of the PC audiophile set.  Vast numbers of raving fanboys. It is just another choice now.)

> 5.  Database as a hub for developers (similar to #4, but oriented more toward individual developers.

How can you make money doing this?

4. and 5. will introduce risks of instability and crashes.  More support too.  What's the point.
> 6.  MC Market -- a list of vendors who provide add-ons and a way for them to get paid with MC one click

Are you using the iPhone apps market as a model?  In the PC world, many people will pay thousands for audio or video gear but expect to get PC software for free.

> 7.  Contacts and other amorphous information organization -- may need to be done as a new program

I see no relation to MC.

---
I'd like to see you fully exploit MC as an audio player:

- Make it easier and more obvious for newcomers. Your website doesn't begin to explain why MC is significantly different from other Windows-based players.  Your documentation doesn't help beginners find the answer to questions that come up.  I respond to questions about MC on other forums.  Many people try MC by just installing it, importing some files and playing them.  When they find that something doesn't work the way they want it to, they just condemn MC and give up.

- Simplify the interface and allow the user to customize it.  MC has artifacts from years of interface evolution.  I'd like to get rid of the Action window and Tag editing.  I find that I want to simplify, customize and streamline most of the software I use. 

- Keep making MC faster to start up and to perform routine operations.  Some of the s/w I use (Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office) gets bigger and slower with each release.  I hate that.  When I try something that is simpler, smaller and more streamlined to use, I want to change to that program.

- finish making MC usable for multiple rooms and with different forms of remote control.

- Put more effort into marketing.  You don't have enough name recognition.  Keeping trying partnerships with companies like Amazon to find ties that are worthwhile to JRiver.

You should broaden your market for MC.  Make it attractive to more casual users.

Bill

[Dutch Peter]

DVB for Cable: DVB-C!!!!!! IrDeto support.

[HTPC4ME]

> 2.  One remote

Being able to use a hand-held device to control MC FULLY would be quite useful

WHEN YOU SAY FULLY.

Does that mean allowing us to use such devices to 5 star and allow us to put songs into playlists from handheld?

That would be a must i think for us with large libraries, and for those of us who play our music shuffled. or listen to our playlists of music we've never listened to!

[lepa]

DVB for Cable: DVB-C!!!!!!

+1
Also DVB subtitles would be nice.
Finish movie meta data information in Theater View (should have been included already in MC13 really)

[CadErik]

1.  Whole house media network

Sharing DRM media would be a necessity - otherwise one won't be able to live without WMP and windows media connect.

Erik.

[ThoBar]

A move into corporate media management.

You've got a great base for it, now a truly multi-user database, customisable info 'tiles', and serving (think http) abilities would be awesome.

I'm comparing it to something like (for photos) Portfolio Extensis, and possibly Bridge ... though I've not really seen it.

[benn600]

I'm interested in pushing the HTPC setup further--more theater view abilities, cross-box control, etc.  Although in some ways I don't like giving my interests because the features others think up tend to be appealing to me as well.  Anything...'s good.

[CadErik]

I'm comparing it to something like (for photos) Portfolio Extensis, and possibly Bridge ... though I've not really seen it.

Talking of photos, I forgot a major one: XMP and compatibility with Adobe lightroom.

[Matt]

XMP

XMP image tagging has been in Media Center since version 12.

[SeaDrive]

Simple request: Command Line argument to force Play Here or Play There when connecting to a Library Server

[JimH]

Just a reminder that the purpose of this thread was "... major directions for MC 14 ...".  It's not a feature request thread.

[bunglemebaby]

1.  Whole house media network

It needs to be robust and flexible to claim a "whole house media network" as a feature, but yes, definitely. The problem accomplishing this is the number of methods different people are going to want to use, and the large variety of hardware they'll have at their disposal to do it. "Flexible enough" is a tough metric to measure against...

2.  One remote

Some sort of reliable remote is a good thing. For my current needs a MCE remote is fine, but when going to the whole house media network idea, more is obviously needed.

3.  Synapse (a media PC)

Lots of people are headed towards HTPCs, but it seems smarter to get MC put onto another (cheaper) vendors hardware. I don't see a real way for JR to compete price-wise with what is already on the market.

4.  Open the MC database to a coalition of software companies -- RockBox, foobar, MP3 tagger, dbPowerAmp, Zoom Player, etc.

I like this idea in terms of its possibilities. For me Rockbox is the one that I care about. I imagine being able to have all of my MC metadata available to me and my customized Rockbox database views. This would be portable audio magic! I don't know how those other players would really effect me ever.
Along these lines though, hooking up with something along the lines of MusicBrainz, last.fm or Allmusic could prove very beneficial. If all of the MC metadata addicts could contribute to a more robust database than YADB (in terms of type of data stored) it'd become a huge source of information. I imagine I might be dreaming on this one...
Of course if you just expanded the fields involved in YADB, it'd get the same affect, but that's another story...

5.  Database as a hub for developers (similar to #4, but oriented more toward individual developers.

Yes, let plugin developers get their hooks in. I don't know if I actually know what is possible here though...

6.  MC Market -- a list of vendors who provide add-ons and a way for them to get paid with MC one click

I doubt I'd ever care about this, but as long as it didn't get in the way of the rest of the program (like tends to happen with the itunes store) I wouldn't mind.

7.  Contacts and other amorphous information organization -- may need to be done as a new program

Interesting idea, but it reeks of spreading the program too thin and in too many directions. If it were done right, I might appreciate it, but doing it right sounds like a ton of effort for a minimal return.

Also of interest to me:
-Relational database (or data linking of some sort)
-Further access rights and party mode options.

Previously posted:

A more robust Access Control would be useful.
What I'd like to see includes:
Savable filters - it is aggravating to have to re-create a filter every time I turn Access Control on.
An on/off list for all of these saved filters - basically just a list of all saved filters with a check box to designate on or off. It would make sense to allow for different passwords for each filter too.
Default Filters - It would also be useful to set certain filters to default to "on", so that if one is turned off during a session it will automatically be turned back on the next time MC starts up.
Remote Client specific filters - I don't have need for this myself currently, but I saw it discussed someplace and it makes sense. Basically, for Kid A's room apply all filters, Kid B's room apply all but the PG-13 filter, for Ma n' Pa's room apply no filters, or something to that effect.

Only other reference to the subject I managed to find right now:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=42744.0

Also, in regard to Party Mode, it would be nice to have the ability to lock the player into a certain view so that I can make a nice simple one that doesn't need to be explained to the many morons that I'm friends with.

There were also some "jukebox" features that I saw requested in another post (somewhere around here) that would work well as part of Party Mode.
Remember, Party Mode is also peak time for free advertising mode.

[MusicHawk]

One way MC could add value to the user, thereby making it more valuable to purchase than paid/free competitors, is to make it both a master control for media files, and a master encyclopedia of media information -- at the track level.

Perhaps build on YADB to provide many more fields of data, the "this took research" kind of information that many of us dig out and add to our own libraries -- each of us reinventing the same wheels.

The current YADB reasonably echos the standard info of a CD. But it's clear that many MC users then add all kinds of extra data -- witness the available library fields, and the many custom fields that are often discussed (I use several). Yet we each do it separately, with no way to collaborate.

Of course, "what data" will vary with user, so it's not an easy idea. But many facts about a music track (or CD, or DVD, or whatever), are not opinion, and there's a lot more to document about a song or video than can be stored in today's YADB.

So, the idea is to build a public database of these facts about each music track, directly readable by MC from a shared database, and transferrable (under user control) to MC's library.

What is most easily compiled and shared are true, solid facts. For instance:

• The DVD/CD/album/single's label/publisher, catalog number, and similar facts.
• The original date of the recording (not re-release/repackaging or whatever)
• A standardized name for the artist/group, in addtion to the literal name from the CD
• All the major artists who perform on a track (a big thing in jazz)
• Facts about the principal artists.
• The song's composer(s)
• The song's primary music key and true tempo
• The type of recording: stereo, mono, rechanneled
• The genre of the music
• Etc, etc

One challenge can be see in YADB -- incorrect data. There are many tracks that have wrong information, perhaps because the originator didn't understand the question (is the date of a track when it was recorded - YES - or when a particular recording was published for the zillionth time, or when the user acquired the track, or when it was added/ripped?). There are inconsistencies, typos, etc.  But this ought to be fixable, perhaps by controlling who gets to contribute. (Like a wiki, where "anyone" can edit it but only some such edits are retained.)

Also note that basic facts are not copyrightable so sharing would be "cleaner" than, say, cover art.

[bunglemebaby]

One way MC could add value to the user, thereby making it more valuable to purchase than paid/free competitors, is to make it both a master control for media files, and a master encyclopedia of media information -- at the track level.
Perhaps build on YADB to provide many more fields of data, the "this took research" kind of information that many of us dig out and add to our own libraries -- each of us reinventing the same wheels.

+1   I would love this. It's what I hoped MusicBrainz would turn into, but so few users have access to a program that is even capable of storing much of this information. They have fields for things like labels and musicians but very few (of my) albums have the data filled in. MusicHawk explained my thoughts on this very well, thanks.
Also, if expanded into movies and TV (maybe even YouTube and other internet content in an extreme attack on conquering all metadata the world over  ) the reach towards potential users would expand even more. (I only really care about the music thing though  )

[CadErik]

6.  MC Market -- a list of vendors who provide add-ons and a way for them to get paid with MC one click

I'd be more than happy if that would allow the integration of a music and video store. Digital Performer and hopefully some alternative outside the US would be a significant progress. I'd love to use the MC interface instead of the 10 year old Napster client (it's the only choice here in Canada).

[CadErik]

Please add your own.

8. Make MC a viable alternative to photo organization software such as windows live photo gallery or IMatch

This could include:
- more precise tagging (more customization on the tag types, XMP, XMP sidecar files, etc.);
- fancy features such as face detection;
- UI oriented toward a workflow;
- more customizable import feature;
- compatibility with the metadata of lightroom and live gallery.

[johnnyboy]

My personal thought of the big 'where you go next' is in fact the opposite of what you might be looking for but might make a huge impact.

Instead of looking for yet another 'next big thing' to add to MC to try keep ahead of the times, just make your next 'big thing' a huge push on refining what is there, listen to user feedback a LOT and do a LOT of interaction about existing features, requests, etc and use that to polish MC.
It has tons and tons of features already, most of which are hidden under the hood or are extremely hard to find. Your next 'big thing' could just be to refine what is already there and make it all uber easy to use and super user friendly.
This would instead of trying to appeal to yet another type of user base with some new feature which wouldn't be fully refined, open up MC to a much broader audience and make it less scarey for beginners and simple day to day users.

Your next big thing could be just to take the power that is there and make it all so much friendlier that you make it something my mum could use.

Just start a thread for user ideas, mainly smaller ones and then get peoples opinions on how much they would help make MC easier to use and then use them to polish it.
In my own head, a month or more of just polishing would REALLY bring the features that are already in MC up to par with other applications that offer the same features and bring it ahead of them with the power it already has hidden under the hood for techies.


As a side note - a big feature area I would say would to be to design a GUI that is a lot more suited to tablets and visual interaction with a touch screen as Windows 7 is all about that and more laptops seem to be tablets these days (mine that I am on now is). A simple example being the demo you see all the time of a pile of pictures in the middle of the screen and the users dragging the pictures to piles in the left or right corner etc to group and sort them so that you are interacting with the computer in the same way you would deal with the pictures in real life if they were printed.

[dcwebman]

One way MC could add value to the user, thereby making it more valuable to purchase than paid/free competitors, is to make it both a master control for media files, and a master encyclopedia of media information -- at the track level.

An excellent list except please add Lyrics to it. We have cover art in YADB, let's get a Lyrics addition and do similar to what Doof did with his Lyrics Editor to make it easier to edit the lyrics instead of using a tiny text box.

[ccclapp]

1) iPhone integration
2) better remote control from iphone
3) Trye sync of clients (to allow for multi-zone sync from client pc's in each room)
4) Better ID tag updates (I do this separately in Tag & Rename now)

Thanks

[daragh]

I use MythTV, so would love to see integration with that (or an open standard if that exists yet) - this would be my killer app.

I liked the idea of PerformerMC, and would be willing to buy music through MC (and combining the products with the ability to 'turn-off' some functionality).

Navigation - Extend the 'Locate' function to more easily discover related/new music: I.e., right clicking on a song will allow me to see all songs by that ARTIST, all songs in the same GENRE, all songs recorded in the same YEAR, all songs in that ALBUM, etc. - think of the opportunities for expanding this to a recommendation engine (see PMC comment, above)

I have been looking at the Windows 7 Media Center app - it has a LOT of things in there you might want to look at and either compete or avoid on. Think about WHY people buy MC... for me it was the open-ness and incredible support for all media, which is now becoming more mainstream. The UI is also KILLER!

Good luck!

[CampbellR66]

Library server running on Windows Home Server allowing multiple clients to connect round the home network.

This could be via DNLA / UPnP AV or stick with your proprietary client server solution.