INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: JimH on March 27, 2004, 08:53:34 am

Title: What will happen next is....
Post by: JimH on March 27, 2004, 08:53:34 am
Thanks for the good humor over 3D pong.  I still think it's pretty special.  I can't see it without at least grinning a little.  That's good.

We were hoping that build 100 would be The One.  It isn't.  We'll go on several more days until we have one that just feels right.  Then we'll stamp "Release" on its forehead, kiss it good-bye, and send it off on the big yellow bus.

There is a Big Deal thing coming.  The timing is uncertain but it will happen this spring.  There are others in the pipeline.  I can't tell you any details because we're sworn to secrecy.

These will probably involve music or media stores inside MC.  The exact offerings will be up to our clients, but we've tooled up to add stores quickly and easily.

Whether you use them is your business.  Some people may like them.  Some may not.  I believe it's the future of media.  Most of you understand that.

At this time, we don't expect to offer our own music store.  The stores will be offered by big companies who want to go toe to toe with Apple and others.  This race will probably last several years, and several companies will probably expire in the process.  

We plan to go on making a great player/organizer and letting others use it as they see fit.  The new friendships we've made will definitely help us do that.

Thanks again for the fun.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: Jaguu on March 27, 2004, 09:13:34 am
JimH,

would it be possible to elaborate more on this 3D pong stuff! I am not a gamer and don't think I will use that in any way, but cannot imagine that all the effort that J River did was for this game alone, unless it represents the basics for something more to come...

 
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: KingSparta on March 27, 2004, 09:16:30 am
Quote
cannot imagine that all the effort that J River did was for this game alone

It's not, please read JimH's message again.

The Pong game was for fun, to pull your leg so to speak.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: LonWar on March 27, 2004, 09:39:59 am
It was definately the highlite of my week... I t was very busy at work and to see that on Friday... JimH and co, Thanks for the laugh.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: GRAYDOG on March 27, 2004, 09:57:49 am
You Guy's are going to let Us keep pong right ?
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: TimB on March 27, 2004, 01:36:24 pm
I'd certainly like a chance to use an MC integrated solution and dump iTunes. :)

-=Tim=-
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: Magicland on March 27, 2004, 02:05:05 pm
Any chance of a deal with the new Virgin music service that Branson's planning to launch? I'm expecting that one to core apple's itunes.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: gpvillamil on March 27, 2004, 09:47:57 pm
It sounds like J River has built a robust API for interfacing with multiple music stores - sounds great!

Now, I wonder how long it will take for someone to write a plugin that connects Kazaa, Direct Connect, Gnutella to the same API...

After all, it would be great to have integrated access to all those Grateful Dead concerts & the legal content on the P2P networks... ;)
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: JimH on March 28, 2004, 08:17:15 am
I've moved some posts that talked about lossless encoding.

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=20192
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: AoXoMoXoA on March 28, 2004, 01:27:30 pm
Congratulations Jim and all of JRiver's team.  I wish the best of luck in these endeavors, considering the package you have developed I am sure you will find much sucess, particularly as I perceive your approach.
Keep up the great work, and please try to keep the little ol power users in mind as you move forward.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: soren on March 28, 2004, 01:33:54 pm

Jim,

I'm not uptodate with what external devices you are supporting, but there seem to be alot of hardware coming out now that connects wireless to a central media server and to your home theater.

I see great potential for you software here, as the programs delivered with this hardware rarly support lossless!

/Sören
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: ph_bradley on March 29, 2004, 04:34:17 pm
i beg of you to keep the filesize down this program is just getting too big. I'm worried by the online music stores thing perhaps you could make MC modular so we can stick to a sub-15 mb filesize. i dunno whther it's pong or new helpfiles or whatever but the size has been creeping up even the list of features really hasn't. Do you think you could remove pong? media center is just that, a media center. make '3d' pong a downloadable plugin or something, but it doesn't belong in the main program, joke or not. But i applaud Matt for trying his hand at other things once in a while, its good to hone our skills by experimenting with tangential occupations.
Also, I strongly advise you not to release on April 1st... after all this anticipation people may well think it's a joke!!
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: JimH on March 29, 2004, 04:41:29 pm
The size went from 16.5MB to 18MB in build 100 because we included the new help file and the old one, too.

In build 101, it's back down to 17.0MB.  The difference is that there is new art and the new help file is bigger.

For better or worse, we're committed to building software for broadband use where the size is less important.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: JimH on March 29, 2004, 04:42:53 pm
... there seem to be alot of hardware coming out now that connects wireless to a central media server and to your home theater.  I see great potential for you software here, as the programs delivered with this hardware rarely support lossless!
I agree that this is an important area.  We should be able to provide good support.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: soren on April 01, 2004, 03:17:49 pm

Have you been contacted by any hardware manufacturers?
Maybe you need to be proactive and contact them :)

/Sören
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: Rob L on April 01, 2004, 03:48:35 pm
I really can't imagine that Pong contributed to any significant extent to the size.

But 17MB really isn't bad for everything you're getting, and I'd rather have a *standard* set of stuff bundled in than have to search for extras.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: MikeW on April 01, 2004, 03:55:30 pm
The size of the media player is a drop in the bucket compared to even a modest media collection.

Really, what's 18 MB or so between friends?
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: JustinChase on April 01, 2004, 04:06:58 pm
Agreed, but it might be time to remove pong.

Funny, but not needed any more.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: JimH on April 01, 2004, 04:27:55 pm
Agreed, but it might be time to remove pong.
Oh the pain.

Whether to suffer the slings and errors of outrageous fortune, and so on.....
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: Rob L on April 01, 2004, 04:33:26 pm
"not needed"? what does that mean?

Can you remove the Zones stuff? I never use that ;-)
Actually, the CD burning stuff too. Why do people need to burn CDs anyhow?
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: JustinChase on April 01, 2004, 04:50:01 pm
Agreed, but it might be time to remove pong.
Oh the pain.

Whether to suffer the slings and errors of outrageous fortune, and so on.....

 ?
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: urlwolf on April 01, 2004, 04:50:07 pm
"not needed"? what does that mean?

Can you remove the Zones stuff? I never use that ;-)
Actually, the CD burning stuff too. Why do people need to burn CDs anyhow?


Wait! Wait! I'm still learning how to use the zones! don't remove it yet! :D
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: EpF on April 01, 2004, 07:14:18 pm

Actually, the CD burning stuff too. Why do people need to burn CDs anyhow?


Huh?  What a strange question!  Don't you make compilation CD's to listen to elsewhere?  For your friends?  Can't say I do it on a regular basis, but I'd never NOT need it.  Mostly I make compilations for friends - the digital version of the mix-tapes I used to make in the 80s!
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: jleerigby on April 02, 2004, 01:48:36 am

Actually, the CD burning stuff too. Why do people need to burn CDs anyhow?


Huh?  What a strange question!  Don't you make compilation CD's to listen to elsewhere?  For your friends?  Can't say I do it on a regular basis, but I'd never NOT need it.  Mostly I make compilations for friends - the digital version of the mix-tapes I used to make in the 80s!

That's illeagal.
Title: Re:What will happen next is....
Post by: NoCodeUK on April 02, 2004, 01:53:06 am
I think Rob L's comment may have been an example of this thing I have heard of called sarcasm...

Adam