yo so i feel guilty for not posting in a bit, but i was happy seeing my photos below and really didn’t have anything better to say for a while. but i did want to let you all know what i’ve been up to. and that is… bringing audio to the people.
that’s right. everybody wants to hear it right here and now. they don’t wanna click another link. they don’t wanna open it in itunes. they don’t want their browser to go to an all grey window with the little quicktime bar in the middle. no no my friend. they want the audio now.
anyway, that’s what i told to some of my bosses and they agreed and we’ve since been using the inline audio player i created for nytimes.com. we call it the “inline player” b/c, well, it can basically play anywhere. inline. um, yep.
but really i saw a need to replace the direct links to mp3s that we were consistently putting up on the front page (and throughout the site). the #1 problem with these links was that it was impossible to tell what the hell was going to happen when one of our readers clicked on the link. it could take you to a new browser window where it plays ur mp3. it could launch winamp. it could launch real player. it could go get a latte at starbucks. you just don’t know.
additionally. who really wants any that crap to happen? answer: nobody. if peeps are coming to ur page, they’re not coming to immediately be pushed off to a blank window, or worse , another application. they’re coming to browse the headlines, watch a video, check out a slide show, maybe, just maybe, listen to a little audio?
enter inline audio player. disco.
now it’s a simple little mp3 player that will play anything you throw at it. it’s resizable (as seen in these two different screenshots) so it’s flexible to fit where you need it. it carries the look and feel of the site. and hopefully it has upped the number of peeps listening to times audio. the best part about the whole development process was testing it out with the new lupe fiaso album. which is dynamite (the website looks pretty cool too, but i just saw it as i linked it).
continue livin’ large and enjoyin’ the audio.
It’s always amazing when something as obvious as a inline MP3 player can have such a huge impact on how a user interacts with a Web site. I love it.
Nice job.
yeah, now all you need to do is convince your jefes to graduate from acetate aluminum disc recordings to digital. a marantz/HD minidisc and an FTP, and viola!
patrick, what’s up dood? congratulations on the one-year anniversary of the timescast. thanks for the compliment. i agree that it is amazing when something that seems obvious goes overlooked.
vidinsky. acetate aluminum disc recordings are all the rage right now. shows what you know about audio. in all actuality though, they don’t even need a marantz. you can get good quality from a small olympus recorder that they can then plug into their computer and email. no ftp needed. but you know how it goes pushing new technology on others. slow and tedious. like u.
raw tape can be a little big for email, though. especially if you want to keep it as a .wav until you’re ready to compress. but yeah, there’s a few different digital recording options that you should push on the nyt. if they’re just doing voice over, all they really need is a decent mic and some basic recording software on their laptop.
keep up dem good works.
Nice, can you make it viral now? I would like to see a podcast link next to mp3 but I would hate to clutter the beauty of it’s simplicity.
that’s a good suggestion zach.
i also really like the simplicity of the design and the ease of use, but there could be room for an icon of some sort. maybe instead of the audio icon that accompanies the title we use an RSS icon in instances where the audio clip is part of a syndicated series?
good idea and good to hear from you.