ooTunes milestones...

Just wanted to post a short mention of what I've been up to lately....
first off, ooTunes has been #1 in paid music apps in Canada for going on almost a week now :) I guess that's what I get for adding almost 800 Canadian streams for you iPhone / iPod Touch brandishing Canucks :) I was told also that at least for the first 8 reviews, I had an average rating of 5 stars!

Second, I've been getting station requests like crazy! As of today, I added the 10,000th stream to the full list of all ooTunes Radio stations here.

Third, the ooTunes server has been recently updated with beta support for sharing your photos. On Mac, assuming you use iPhoto for your photo management, you get albums, ratings, tags, titles, etc. On windows and linux, for now it's only going to scan directories for photos. The feature is off by default, be sure to turn it on in the Global preferences for ooTunes Server if you want to give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Fourth, I'm currently working to finalize the realtime video transcoding that iPhone OS 3.0 can take advantage of. The cool thing about this is it should eventually allow not only playback of videos in non-iPhone compatible formats or sizes, but also eventually live video (as in, from a TV tuner card, webcam, or even some live online video streams).

Fifth, I did the unthinkable! I finally pre-ordered an iPhone 3G S! Oh, and I developed, sold and supported a rather popular iPhone app entirely on a 1st Generation iPod Touch :)

Finally, later this week, as part of the release for the new iPhone 3G S, my family and I will be taking a little ooTunes promotional trip, it's fully experimental, but I'm really excited about it. I'll post a followup on how it goes here, someday...

Thanks for reading :)

Steve
ooTunes Nerd

Blogs... where people go to complain...

iTunes app store feedback is a fun little forum. It's like the rest of the internet, mostly garbage, some nice spots, and of course, noone really controls it. Well, I've been a bit baffled by some of the reviews I've had for the ooTunes Radio iPhone app. So I almost posted this as feedback (with a 3 start "neutral" rating). Then I decided against it (thanks rob :) Instead, I've resorted to using more *'s and ALL CAPS to make sure people don't just skim over my app store description (hey, some people are liking it enough to buy it without thinking twice... actually over 2000 people :) The beautiful thing is that I'm getting much more feedback directly than in the app store. However, I'd love for more people to contact me... customer service can be a real adventure (and time sink!) but I've always liked talking to people.

Here's what I'd post as my own feedback. It was fun to write:

My goodness gracious! Hi, this is Oogli. I don't exist as a real person. But really, I would be a nice guy if I did!
Okay, I've spent the last 2 years of my life, in every waking moment working to make this app and the server a reality. Some may call me an idiot, great. Please do it to my face (see the "ooTunes Radio Support" link). I cannot honestly believe the number of people who are still "surprised" that the ooTunes server costs extra money! I can't believe it (unless you bought my app on day 1) there are two places in this long (poorly written) description that have stated in no unclear terms (sold separately see: http://ootunes.com)

I don't understand why people are able to read all about all the features (many of which require using a server, not because I'm trying to get rich from it, but because they are TECHNICALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DO without having a server running on YOUR computer) but FAIL to see the SOLD SEPARATELY text??? I'm not trying to rip people off!!!! I want everyone to be happy, I want to keep working to make my software perfect, I want to live a long(ish) and happy, not-overly-stressful life. However, I'm finding that it is quite difficult given the circumstances:

1. I can't advertise my Server software here more than I already am, this is Apple's store, they don't get anything from people purchasing my server software, this is not an advertisement.
   
2. I can't respond to people here. Please contact me!!!! (see the "ooTunes Radio Support" link) I answer every email I get! I want to help you!!! I want you to tell me why I'm a fool, then you can tell the rest of the world.
   
3. If you feel as though you were ripped off, tell me to my face (or by electronic mail, rather)! I'll make it right!
   
4. Please check your facts before you post reviews. I've heard several people tell me that "all these streams are available elsewhere for free". Please tell me (and any potential customers where, so we can move on with our lives!), or that the web-browser is only available with the server? It's not. Try again, or ask me how to use it.
   
5. If you have trouble with the software, it's my fault. Please tell me so I can improve it. I'm listening, and working hard on it. See the "ooTunes Radio Support" link.
   
6. If you like my software, thanks! I sincerely appreciate your business. I'd still love to hear what I can do to improve it! (then you can tell the world)
   
7. That feels better...