I wanted to jump in here and say thanks for offering, yet again, discounted Media Center upgrade pricing. Music & Movies are a large part of my life. Media Center has been at the center of it for over a decade, since I first discovered Media Jukebox in 2001. Doing some simple math, since 2007 (v 13) my cost for this software has been around $2.30 USD per month. I can't think of any piece of software, nay, any
product I have ever purchased that bests the true value of Media Center.
I don't find myself in this mood often, but my fuse for unwarranted bitching and moaning is short today. If you read on, you might get bored and/or feel some sort of ire towards me. That's okay, because you've been warned.
[soapbox]
Media Center does what it does collectively better than anything out there. It's very customizable and flexible, bending to the needs of the most nitpicking and particular of users. With that said, the price for this flexibility is a bit of complexity. Notice my qualification, "a bit". Contrary to what many new users think, Media Center
does work great out of the box. I've installed the trial on a number of friends machines, and they were blown away. These aren't the types I would consider power users, more like your typical iTunes / Windows Media person who just didn't know there was an infinitely better option. Then there are the developer types and tweakers I've introduced to this software. They're universally in love with its feature set and plug-in capabilities.
I guess you can't make everyone happy though. New users lament that Media Center doesn't behave like (insert title here) in some specific way. Guess what, that's probably by design folks. You don't know how lucky you have it that Media Center does what it does without getting in your way, yet providing a path for customization when desired. Who else does high quality video without getting in your way? Who else handles hundreds of thousands of files in a collection with aplomb? Most alternatives (iTunes, I'm looking at you!) just give up and die. Who else has a viable, non-cloud based client / server streaming setup that, again, doesn't tank with large libraries? Who else has a straightforward web based API that can be used to create myriad remote / client apps? Who else has the DSP options and approachable audiophile level features, most notably the recent integration with digital room correction filters. Who else does tagging as well, outside of a purpose built tagging app? I saw someone complaining earlier about not being able to tag lots of files with new genre, etc. Sorry, you're just using it wrong. The tag pane is easy to use and approachable. Who else has as powerful an expression engine for making filters / smartlists? Who else provides a commensurate amount of flexibility in setting up customized views? Who else provides regular expression based customizable link bars? Who else provides a good C++/C# API for programmers seeking to develop plugins?
Complainers can pick a couple features out here and there and state, quite accurately, that an alternative does it better. Perhaps, but you just missed the point. Who else does
all of these things at all, at any level of usability, at any price? Sheesh, going through the wiki and my own customizations, there are a ton of features I've not even covered.
Then there are the people who like to person about money in one form or another. I'm tired of seeing people moan about this upgrade price or that. If you know how to:
- use a computer
- install software
- get on a mailing list
- follow basic licensing instructions
.. then you'll have no problem upgrading at the discounted price as I have since 2007. But guess what? I would happily pay the
full price for Media Center for every major release. JRiver does so much more right than any alternative, and at a very fair price to boot. The full price for this product, at both the breadth and depth it covers, is without compare.
Oh, and then there are those who love to complain about support, or their perception of the lack thereof. Contrary to what some new users think, JRiver
do care about their users and providing a good level of support. Jim is quite possibly the most patient man on earth. Years ago, he posted about
JRiver's philosophy behind forum based support. If for one reason alone, I completely agree with using a forum as the basis for support: Anyone can search it! Again and again, like a broken record, he refers back to this post to let people know how things work. For crying out loud, this post is linked directly from the
Support Page, as are the myriad options for finding what one needs! It's such a no-brainer, that anyone who complains about their email not being answered deserves to be outright ignored. Yet, Jim, Matt or one of the many very dedicated forum users will invariably answer said complainer in an unfailingly helpful manner.
People also like to complain that X feature is not implemented. Guess what, everyone has to have priorities. Try developing packaged software like Media Center, much less successfully, and you'll find that JRiver delivers in this area better than most. Do your reading on feature requests (it's all here in the forum!), how they're evaluated and how quickly Jr. River responds when it is practical to do so. They are, again, unique in this area.
Still others complain about bugs and instability. When people report issues, JRiver simply asks for details as to how a case can be reproduced. "It doesn't work" doesn't help anyone. Help them help you, and it is
very likely your issue will be put to rest.
Ok, so bottom line: The product is great, the price is outstanding, and the support is better than at most places. If you still have something to complain about, you're probably never going to be happy... so perhaps move on and let those who are more reasonable people exist in relative peace.
[/soapbox]
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Topic: Upgrading to MC18 -- Questions and Comments (Read 58514 times)