Free Pandora from the tyranny of your browser

Pandora my favorite little music player has released a desktop application in beta. The desktop app means no more accidentally closing out Pandora woo hoo!  Basically, the desktop app looks and performs in much the same way you’re used to the browser version working, though it doesn’t include the thumbs up/down feature that is a personal fav of mine.  It also seems to demand a lot of CPU space for Mac–something Pandora is working to rectify–remember beta.

Also, if you’re a  frequent Pandora user, I encourage you to check out the Pandora blog to see if the founder, Tim Westergren is coming to your town.  I met Tim as his talk in Seattle in 2006, and he’s a great storyteller, with loads of good information about how Pandora got started during the dot.com era, nearly went under and managed to survive.  And since his talks are free it’s a nice night out to get your geek on.

Vinyl records find their way back

Tonight’s news trumpeted the announcement that vinyl records and turntables have found their way back into my local Fred Meyer store.  But the real news is that they’re selling–big time.  Vinyl has appeal for audiophiles because its sound is richer and more nuanced.  With mp3 files, music has become about being loud to capture listener’s attention, the soft parts are loud and the loud parts are LOUDER.

But it’s not just fuddy duddies longing for the good old days who like vinyl, musicians like Pearl Jam have been offering limited release vinyl to members of their Ten Club fan club as a holiday gift for years.  PJ’s hit Last Kiss started its life as one of these holiday gifts.  And now that USB turntables have become affordable, some record labels are offering packages that include mp3 files with a vinyl purchase.  This combination of vinyl for home and mp3 for on the go had Wired magazine in 2007 predicting the demise of CDs.

It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Libraries would begin offering vinyl again but….