If anyone wants a way to avoid the Flash site now, be sure to check out pianobar[0] and/or Pithos[1]. I've been using them for years in my attempts to completely avoid Flash usage (VLC for YouTube, Vimeo, etc.).
When did VLC add Vimeo support? Love that feature for YouTube (just wish I could set a "max resolution" to play - that is, my computer/internet connection can't handle 1080p and VLC always plays at the highest resolution possible).
News like this annoys me. Pandora has the feature and I can't have it. I see the announcement and go to check out the feature and can't opt in. Tomorrow when I get back to work I'm going to completely forget about it and three weeks from now when they release it to my account I'll never know.
You make a good point. There's no utility in announcing that you're going to redesign something. When it's ready, launch it and then get feedback. It's 2011, screenshots don't cut it anymore.
The new HTML5 layout looks incredibly slick. Whats even more amazing than the layout is the fact that they were able to pull this off while going through an IPO and without making a mess of their current service.
I don't have access to the new design...but does anyone know if they abandoned Flash completely? Meaning, are they actually using HTML5 <audio> or using Flash to play the music?
"Conrad credits his 'incredible engineering team' for pulling off this transition from Flash dependance to HTML5. And while it’s clear that the Flash addiction has been kicked, Conrad notes that they continue to have fall-back Flash elements for browsers not fully HTML5-compliant."
Honestly, even if they still used Flash to play music and did the rest in HTML it would still be a huge improvement.
Since Firefox does not support MP3 or AAC, and IE/Safari do not support OGG they would have to do it in Flash unless they are transcoding server side or only supporting certain browsers.
The reason why they don't go full <audio> and whatever is not because of compatibility. It's about security and copyright infringement. It would be free downloads for all and that would make all the RIAA execs they have deals with very mad.
On pandora.com/newpandora it says "The front-end technology has been rebuilt in HTML 5" but doesn't mention anything about the actual playing of the audio.
The whole point of HTML5 tags like <audio> are to make content completely open. Unfortunately, that's the exact opposite of what what any major record label wants. I'm pretty sure they'll use flash in the background to play the audio, even if the entire site all the way down to the progress bar are HTML5.
Checking out the "old" Flash site, any experienced Flash developer could have prevented that prolonged 10 second delay. It's not the tool, it's the talent. That delay must have been a business decision (i.e. make it all load up front no matter what).
Email them and ask politely? According to the second paragraph of the article, they're doing a gradual transition over the next few weeks, beginning with Pandora One subscribers. There doesn't seem to be a way to opt-in to get it immediately.
For reasons that are entirely based in my own personal tastes the Pandora UI has always been a turn-off. The service has been great (aside from hearing the same Home-Depot ad 5+ times an hour). Tip of the hat for the great work on this new design.
Now, why can't I use it right now? The current site scales just fine. They know how to scale the service. What's holding it back? Is it not ready?
thank goodness! I was honestly preparing to write an article on why and how a multi-billion dollar valued tech company could have a site that wasn't crisp to use or nice to look at. but it looks like pandora beat me to the punch, and that's a good thing!
On the other hand, Pandora is a lot like Twitter in that the actual website isn't as important as the service they provide. I use the Pandora Air app, their app in Boxee, the Pandora iPhone app, etc, and basically never go to the site itself.
Same here. It blows my mind that such an ugly broken website got so popular, but city41 is right. Pandora, like Twitter, is more about the service it provides than the web interface. I rarely directly visit pandora.com or twitter.com, but use the mobile apps all the time.
Yeah, I love Grooveshark but their recommendations are bad. I'd love to try Pandora. Not having much choice I'm happy with iTunes on desktop, Double Twist and Grooveshark for mobile. I've dipped my toe in Google and Amazon music but I had to jump through proxying hoops just like I would have to w/ Pandora, so none of those pan out till they really service Canada.
We have last.fm in Canada too, I forgot about them. I hear there are other choices but I haven't heard of any. Would love to hear if anyone reading this knows of them.
Grooveshark has had[0] a very sharp HTML5 interface for several months now. Here's a story[1] on HN from 220 days ago with discussion about it. Pandora is very late to the game.
Grooveshark is already available with HTML. They use flash behind the scenes to play back the audio, but that's it. Pandora will most likely be very similar.
Didn't know that, thanks. When I go to grooveshark.com I get "We had a problem loading Flash." on a mostly blank screen, which is pretty much exactly what I get on RDIO.
0: http://6xq.net/projects/pianobar/
1: http://kevinmehall.net/p/pithos/