Why Airport Express support is a BAD idea - Robbie Hanson

Sure it sounds cool to be able to wake up via your wireless connection to some remote speakers. But you should be asking yourself: Is this a good idea? This is an alarm clock, and stability is #1. Think about what happens if your iTunes library is set to play to remote speakers, but the speakers are unavailable. What happens? iTunes pops up an error message and nothing happens. If this was your alarm trying to go off in the morning, you wouldn't wake up! Or what if iTunes was set to play to the wrong remote speaker system? I have 2 airport expresses in my house, and one happens to be connected to my speakers outside on the patio. If this was set, iTunes would play fine, but I certainly wouldn't hear it, and certainly wouldn't wake up! This is yet another reason I decided not to rely on iTunes to play your alarms in the morning. I take the stability of this application very seriously, and refuse to implement features that sound cool, but actually damage the stability of the Alarm Clock. Besides, if you're using a software program on your computer to wake up in the morning, it's a safe bet that the computer is in the bedroom. If the computer isn't in the bedroom, I wouldn't suggest trying to use it as an alarm clock in the first place.

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Wednesday, June 21 2006 @ 03:37 PM PDT

Why Airport Express support is a BAD idea - jtfolden

I fail to see why having the option there and available is a bad thing. If the user doesn't have iTunes or his remote speakers set up correctly, that's his own fault. Otherwise, it sounds like a decent idea to me.

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Saturday, August 05 2006 @ 06:14 PM PDT

Why Airport Express support is a BAD idea - MacGuffin

I think the developer's point is that adding the feature could possibly compromises the overall stability of the application. Why not have it do what it does very well rather than adding bells and whistles that might increase the chance of poorer performance? I applaud him for his integrity and honesty and really like the app as well.

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Monday, August 07 2006 @ 09:51 AM PDT

Why Airport Express support is a BAD idea - Michael Zed

Do you mean stability—that the program will crash with Airport Express—or reliability—that you have decided that my particular Airport Express won't work? This sounds like a great program, but I don't know why the software developer is deciding which audio output device I should be using.

It could very well be that my computer sound is too quiet to wake me (this happens to be the case for my MacBook's speakers).

It could also be that the computer's built-in audio fails for any number of reasons: my stereo or powered speakers are turned off (my girlfriend uses a Tivoli radio for computer speaker, and regularly turns it off), I left my headphones attached, I left the wrong sound output device selected, I muted the system volume when someone phoned, etc. It's also not a safe bet that the computer is in the bedroom: people spend hundreds of dollars to send sound elsewhere with their Airport Expresses, Apple TVs, wireless speakers, or just plain cables in the walls.

"I decided not to rely on [Airport Express] to play your alarms..." I certainly would understand if you'd rather not implement this feature because of the extra work, or if there were technical hurdles, or almost any other reason. But Mr Hanson, please don't make our hardware choices for us.

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Wednesday, January 09 2008 @ 08:39 PM PST

Why Airport Express support is a BAD idea - Michael Zed

Oops, I just took a look at the FAQ on your site, and realized that you mean you don't use iTunes at all, not just that you don't support AirTunes. I can see how this would be more reliable, and I apologize for my ignorant rant.

Regards.

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Wednesday, January 09 2008 @ 08:46 PM PST