An Open Letter To Hardware Vendors

If this post had a subtitle it'd be "A comparison of how to do things right, as well as wrong" but since I don't do subtitles on blog posts we'll get on with it. This is a comparison of two MP3 players of comparable price, branding, availability but two totally different approaches taken by their respective companies which give a totally different user experience. The post compares the Creative Zen, and the Sansa Clip+.

There are varying models with varying specs but since we're comparing approaches not features it's not important to state exact models. The same principles apply to the 2gb model as the 16gb model etc.

Driver Support

Linux users sometimes have an issue when choosing gadgets or hardware in general to make sure they buy something that's compatible with Linux. This implies that Linux hardware support is poor, it's not. Linux supports a much wider range of hardware than Windows or OSX, it also supports hardware made obsolete on Windows. The problem comes from hardware vendors deciding to design their products to be tied very tightly to Windows. Some vendors are sensible enough to design their hardware to be standards compliant, meaning they work on any OS the customer uses.

In the Windows world people are used to opening a new piece of hardware and using the enclosed driver CD to make it work. This CD only has Windows drivers most of the time. It leads many to falsely assume that Linux users want vendors to produce lots of CDs with drivers for Ubuntu, Debian, SuSE, Fedora, Arch etc. We do not, all we ask is that you design your hardware to be standards compliant. Do that and there's a damn good chance it will work out of the box, on OS's you've never even heard of, and need spend no resources working on.

Software

Why do vendors who can't write good software insist on forcing users to use a terrible piece of software to interact with their device? It kills the user experience. Before I get onto the main MP3 player comparison, I want to namecheck Sony for this. I am the proud owner of an ebook reader which happens to be a Sony. At the time I trawled a LOT of reviews, forums, blogs etc comparing different models and got the same two attributes about the Sony eReaders:

1. Excellent hardware, great to use.
2. God awful software that comes with it, avoid like the plague, Sony obviously don't even try this shit before shipping; use Calibre instead.

These two points were made over and over and over again by a LOT of people in their own way. So why would Sony insist on doing it if it's the one part that consistently loses them points in reviews? On another quick side note, my mum bought a Sony mp3 player (I don't know the model) but it requires it's own Sony (Windows only) software. This software rips CDs in Sony's own format that only Sony players can read. Why Sony why?

Now back to the planned MP3 player comparison.

Vendors want ways to distinguish their models and attract users with new features, this is fine, even if it requires the vendors own software to add some of those features. The problem comes when the device is made to REQUIRE that software to interact with it. It's one of many reasons I wouldn't be seen dead with an iProduct. I refuse to be forced to use iTunes, that's not counting the fact that Apple in their infinite wisdom have deemed Linux unworthy to create a native iTunes client for.

Creative Zen

In Windows, you can plug it in, it's detected as removable storage. So far, so good. You can copy and paste music onto it too, however, doing this means it won't update the database on the player meaning it's nothing more than removable storage. Those tracks you just put on don't show up in the players available tracks.

You have to install the Zen Explorer software that comes on the CD, and use that to transfer files to and from the device. It's very like a modified Windows Explorer in it's design. It also has various value features for creating playlists etc. Needless to say, this is a Windows only piece of software, there is no OSX or Linux versions available.

In Linux it does not mount as a removable storage device, it requires GNomad2 to act like an FTP client to get files on and off while updating the database so they're seen. GNomad2 is patchy at best, reliability varies on distro.

In both Linux and Windows it transfers the files all into one huge folder on the device and relies on metadata to work out what tracks belong to what albums and in what order. This can be annoying when you look and see you have 20 tracks all with filenames beginning "01 " etc. It works, but it's messy. It could be an issue when two albums have the same track names in the same position. It also sees the SD card as an extra storage, but doesn't integrate what's on the SD card with the rest of the library. So a good idea badly done.

The codecs it supports is very limited too, it's like an MPEG-LA wet dream, where the whole gamut of DRM, patented codecs are all there, and nothing else.

Sansa Clip

There's no point in splitting this up between Windows and Linux, because the user interaction is the same. There is no driver CD, it doesn't need one. There is no extra software CD, it doesn't need any. You simply plug it in, it's recognised as a removable storage device; simply copy and paste your tracks into the folders and you're good to go. There are folders already there, MUSIC, AUDIOBOOKS, PODCASTS etc Not only that but it picks up sub folders so if you have one band with 10 albums you can create a folder with the bands name, and have a folder for each album inside it with the album title as the folder title. It does rely on metadata for it's info, not folder names.

The Sansa Clip also supports OGG natively, although it never used to shout about it. This is in addition to the usual MPEG-LA range of patented codecs you'd expect in every MP3 player.

Conclusion

Don't make your customers choices for them. These are very powerful reasons why the Sansa Clip is being recommended via word of mouth like wildfire. Because they don't discriminate on OS's they want to be compatible with, don't force the customer to use specific software to interact with devices they've bought, customers repay them many times over by recommending the Sansa products to their freinds and family, as well as making it an almost automatic choice when one dies and needs replaced; guess which player they're looking for?

If you have the type of company and product reputation that respects customers and gives them what they want at competitive prices, your customers will do a large part of your selling for you and they'll continue to pay you for it. Isn't that a much more sensible approach that a locked in solution where you're continually fighting against your own customers and having to spend more resources in manpower and PR to do it? Remember, while companies like Sansa are getting it right, your customers have an escape route from you. Many people are loyal to companies they feel are doing things right, so if you lose them, they're gone for good. You stand a snowballs chance in hell of getting them back.

The whole "build to standards" applies as much to the software as the hardware and the cables and plugs used to connect devices. People like having a single charger or single USB cable handy that does multiple devices, instead of having to hunt for the one that came with that particular device. They don't like having to special order an expensive cable when they lose theirs, usually at a premium price, just to be able to connect their device.