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NPR One

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Re: NPR One

#161

Post by ww520 »

minivan wrote: post #27

Cool, hopefully it will replace the All Songs Considered audio stream (which is great). Side note: Is it just me, or this "scroll to reveal stuff in steps" is a bit frustrating? It seems to be used more and more often and I am sometimes puzzled by the fact that I'm missing the scrolling step. I try scrolling and get either too far (which shows half an image coming from above) or don't get anywhere (which makes me scr…

Also the up/down arrow keys don't work beyond the first screen, very annoying.

Re: NPR One

#162

Post by gnarbarian »

drewblaisdell wrote: post #134
mbesto wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As always, the general rule of the desktop is "don't break my browser functionality". Browser functionality = scroll bar, back/forward button, refresh, bookmark, etc.

A better rule is that these browser functions should do what the user expects. I don't think this page violates that rule (and it might not even violate yours: the scrollbar's movement has not been altered on this page like on Apple's product pages).

I gotta admit, I was confused for a few seconds when the page didn't scroll when I scrolled my mousewheel.

Re: NPR One

#163

Post by pdabbadabba »

stronglikedan wrote: post #32
minivan wrote: post #27

Cool, hopefully it will replace the All Songs Considered audio stream (which is great). Side note: Is it just me, or this "scroll to reveal stuff in steps" is a bit frustrating? It seems to be used more and more often and I am sometimes puzzled by the fact that I'm missing the scrolling step. I try scrolling and get either too far (which shows half an image coming from above) or don't get anywhere (which makes me scr…

It's not just you. It's an annoying trend. Perhaps it's good for phones and tablets (that's arguable), but I don't think it's good for mouse input. At least this landing page (NPR) has optional buttons on the right side, unlike most pages I've seen like this (Spendee). It's turning "mobile first" into "mobile only", and I am being dragged kicking and screaming into it.

I don't blame people for experimenting with new ways of visualizing the "scrolling" mechanic. (Though, it is so widely done these days that I can hardly give NPR One credit for "experimenting" in this particular case.) I think it's fun to see people testing new ways to interact.

But if you do that, it had better be well implemented -- and that is clearly where this falls short. User input translates into on-screen behavior inconsistently, arrow keys are basically broken. When you're trying to replace something so basic as scrolling, this is an interesting case study in just how frustrated users will get with even small frustrations. I've found that even the (now) more typical load-on-demand pages drive me nuts when there's no more than a momentary hitch in the scrolling to load more content. Though maybe I'm just easily bothered by such things.

Re: NPR One

#164

Post by jimmyswimmy »

netcan wrote: post #14
x1798DE wrote: post #6

I don't understand why this needs to be an app. I listen to many things that aren't NPR, and I don't want to switch between BeyondPod and NPR One just to get some sort of curated list. This reminds me of a few years ago where a bunch of podcasts were offering personalized apps that just downloaded the archives and maybe some extra content. I might have paid for the extra content, but I didn't need an app on my phone…

Podcasts (especially on android) is still remarkably broken for most people. I have installed an app and subscribed to several podcasts for a number of people who are below average in their tech literacy. They all fail at being able to consistently manage the app and get the content they want. Finding and subscribing to a new podcast, even if they know which one they want and can get to the website is an almost 100%…

Admitttedly I'm a pretty advanced user, but have you tried Antennapod (available, at least, on f-droid)? It is pretty easy to use and does a lot of auto downloading for you. Once you add the stream it just works pretty well.

Re: NPR One

#165

Post by pbreit »

anigbrowl wrote: post #160
mtinkerhess wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't know that there's not a human being at the other end curating the list, do you? It's plausible that there's manual selection involved in each day's playlist.

As I said already 'I seriously doubt that's the case.'

You're probably wrong as there are almost definitely humans involved in sifting through the various available programs and influencing which get inserted into playlists.

Re: NPR One

#166

Post by pbreit »

ruytlm wrote: post #43

This is all well and good, but why does everyone need to have their own damn app? This is the biggest problem with audio apps these days - you get everyone trying to make a similar thing, and because they're all competing they all try and lock each other out of their own products. What would be so much better is a content-agnostic platform, that'll let you play whatever the hell you want - whether it's music, talk ra…

Agreed. Swell (apparently to be acquired by Apple) and Antenna Radio are delivering a similar experience but without the NPR limitation.

Re: NPR One

#167

Post by pbreit »

covati wrote: post #112
ejfox wrote: post #102

I scrolled through this whole thread looking for a mention of Swell who have been my go-to app for this purpose for the past couple of months (feels like it's been forever though, can't imagine life without it). I pretty much get NPR hourly news updates, Fresh Air, interspersed with episodes of Marc Maron's WTF and some random stuff like A16Z and stuff from the BBC. It's pretty much ideal. I love NPR, and before Swel…

well, now that swell is shutting down it might make sense. But I'll miss the variety that I get from swell :( http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/28/apple-to-buy-swell-for-30-m...

Another option: http://anten.na

Re: NPR One

#168

Post by dredmorbius »

javaun wrote: post #128
mmanfrin wrote: post #85

I really appreciate NPR. They truly try to embetter their offerings. It's nice that we have a source of news that is not beholden to advertisers or corporate interests (although the number of 'This content was made possible by donations from...' I hear at the end of the larger shows is a bit worrying). I just wish Says You would release their episodes as a podcast.

I was going to put this into a thread below re: public vs. private NPR APIs, but it seems more relevant here. Content programming fees are NPR's main form of revenue. When your station WXYZ holds a fundraiser, you donate to them, not to NPR. WXYZ pays NPR on a sliding scale. A station with 1 million listeners pays roughly 10x what a station with 100k listeners pay. NPR is actually barred from accepting donations dire…

I'm generally aware of much of this, but it suggests an interesting argument about economics, in general. Pay according to ability, "tent-pole" products (these exist in for-profit services and retail as well), etc.

Re: NPR One

#169

Post by endgame »

stronglikedan wrote: post #32
minivan wrote: post #27

Cool, hopefully it will replace the All Songs Considered audio stream (which is great). Side note: Is it just me, or this "scroll to reveal stuff in steps" is a bit frustrating? It seems to be used more and more often and I am sometimes puzzled by the fact that I'm missing the scrolling step. I try scrolling and get either too far (which shows half an image coming from above) or don't get anywhere (which makes me scr…

It's not just you. It's an annoying trend. Perhaps it's good for phones and tablets (that's arguable), but I don't think it's good for mouse input. At least this landing page (NPR) has optional buttons on the right side, unlike most pages I've seen like this (Spendee). It's turning "mobile first" into "mobile only", and I am being dragged kicking and screaming into it.

Not only that, but it manages to break the spacebar as a scrolling tool. I'm getting really sick of webapps that are hijacking or breaking keyboard shortcuts!

Re: NPR One

#170

Post by endgame »

drewblaisdell wrote: post #134
mbesto wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As always, the general rule of the desktop is "don't break my browser functionality". Browser functionality = scroll bar, back/forward button, refresh, bookmark, etc.

A better rule is that these browser functions should do what the user expects. I don't think this page violates that rule (and it might not even violate yours: the scrollbar's movement has not been altered on this page like on Apple's product pages).

It violates mine: on just about every other page when I press spacebar the page scrolls.
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