Internet Subscription Services.

 I was always annoyed and frustrated by my IT guys who just assumed our potential customers should be able to work "their" system despite not being computer-literate, and regarded those folk as stupid.

I think that will ring very familiar to many....

So true George / TonyM.

Trying to stop Readers digest was a night mare for me back in 1989!

I have avoided them like the plague since. Another tricky company. Why are some companies so tricky? I dislike sharp practice from trade, and once bitten will never give such a tricky organisation the time of day again. I also advise and caution as many others as I can. 

The game is not worth a candle in such circumstances.

ATB from George

Qobuz is two bob - end of.

Crystal clear English?

Spotify Premium Yes. Qobuz? Maybe I've just got a smaller wallet (or just tight!)

Dave

FWIW I took it to mean Qobuz "is cheap", as in Cockney slang and probably predates acronyms which I frequently struggle with, especially on internet forums. On reflection the poster could equally have meant Qobuz is s**t.

Dave

I think it would be helpful to distinguish between between the concept and the implementation of internet subscription services. A subscription service should be no more challenging to use than an internet forum and by definition we can all manage that.

Poor design is a consequence of the exponential growth of online services. If you consider how many people are employed in designing and maintaining these services and compare that with the total output of all degree level courses in computing then you will realise that most systems are designed by people with insufficient education and training. An additional issue is that most computing courses focus on the technology itself and ignore issues relating to usability or at best make a token attempt to address them. The upshot of this is that most systems are designed by people who have as much grasp of usability issues as the average goldfish. Of course there are some good systems and the situation will improve over time but the miracle is that these systems are not even worse.

Declaration of interest: I spent over 20 years teaching Information Systems at a UK university. I designed and taught modules on usability, ethical, and professional issues in computing which were very popular, even with computer science students. I also designed a degree course entitled "Human Centred Computing" which was approved and validated academically but the University declined to promote it because the Marketing Department deemed there would be "insufficient demand".

Spotify Premium has an excellent user interface, a large varied catalogue, and is value for money.

Declaration of interest: Long time paid-up user.

Dave

Agreed overall, its interface is much better than Qobuz. However to use Spotify Connect with a Naim streamer you have to press the little speaker icon and  then select the streamer as output device. I managed to guess this but there are several posts in the streaming section from people who didn't, and why should they? A speaker icon could easily be a mute on/off button rather than an output selector.

A decent quick start guide and user manual for both Spotify and the Naim app is needed. This is a good example of something that must seem obvious  to the designer whereas there is no reason why the user should know anything about it.

I find both easy enough to use now through a squeezebox touch, but then you need to get the touch, the LMServer, the LM remote app, your PC, 3rd party apps for the squeezebox and ideally a 3rd party tablet/phone app working in harmony first, involving more than a few googles and various forum perusals...And of course these days you have to pay stupid money for a Touch, if you can find one. Simple really.

circa. £200 on that well known auction site. Is that stupid money compared to some other streaming options? No naims of course.

Dave

That's alright, I meant the occasional BNIB items that come up there or through Amazon.

I do think there is a ready market for an up to date, more easily integrated version of a Touch which would solve a lot of peoples issues and wants...I can only assume money did or didn't change hands somewhere along the line to halt it.

I'm sure many Touch users share this view.

Dave

I always wonder why people who are computer illiterates step into the world of computer based audio.

computers are imho not fool-proof devices, so require some computer knowledge and flexibility of mind.

But then the ordinary Hifi System IS foolproof. Connect the cables, press a few buttons and it will go.

Not so computers, which are general purpose machines with a lot of setup options/requirements to get them going properly, let alone getting a decent level of SQ then you need to delve in the deep innards of hardware characteristics. 

Also not so TTs, you need an academic degree in 3D geometry for those, that's why I never got along with a TT.

If Spotify goes Hi-Res then I think it will be curtains for Qobuz. I've tried to like Qobuz but I just can't, the interface is too half baked and you can't play or find the tracks you really want to hear. It will give you the choice of the most least liked or least regarded albums of an artist.

Or you have to pay for a download for the music you REALLY want - Utterly pointless.

100% agreed. To add, the catalogue available seems fairly middle of the road.

Originally Posted by Marky Mark:

You are probably correct re. spotify but I'm having no problems with Qobuz as a stop-gap until lossless is integrated into our streamers soon   - Through the Sonos Connect app it's almost invisible as a direct interface.

G

Agree it is more accesible via one of the Sonos apps. The music catalogue available is just nowhere near as good as Spotify IME.