Gnomie Bryan writes:

Songbird, as Chris knows, is an iTunes-like media player with an Internet jukebox appeal. Here is a list of things I think would improve this application. (Note: some things are already in the works.) For the sake of full disclosure I have Ubuntu 8.04 and 512 MB of RAM with a Pentuim 4.

1. Automatic device recognition – How many times have you plugged in that SD card or USB drive only to find you have to mount it for a one-time use to play Song bird?
2. An equalizer – Seriously, a kickass iTunes wannabe with no EQ? It’s insane!
3. Better support for cell phones using SD cards — To get music to my cell phone I have to drag and drop from folders and manually edit the metadata like it’s 2004. There needs to be some sort of SD manager.
4. Better video support – This flaw isn’t exclusive to Songbird — WinAmp does the same thing. It plays music amazingly then looks at the video and opens a pathetic little window. I know Miro or a Web browser will do just as well, but adding video support could make Songbird the flagship media app in the FOSS world.
5. Better RSS support – Songbird needs a simple app to subscribe to video/audio/text feeds since it’s a media player.
6. MTP support in Linux – Sure, this takes effort, but us *nix users have had the cold shoulder for so long — come on! I bought the freakin’ thing; I should be able to control it in Ubuntu.
7. Improved Flash – You can’t call yourself a media playing Web browser without it. I like the Newgrounds audio portal, so pulling up Flock just to go listen to some GOA trance really sucks.
8. Media center features – This is a no-brainer. Combine the Web-based media components with FM radio and PVR-like stuff. We don’t think of a border between TV over the air and Web TV like hulu.com.
9. Stream capture + timed stream capture – Along with Flash support, this could be a revolution. Imagine some video interface capable of scheduling and time shifting or playing online video locally (like Totem in GNOME) or capturing Shoutcast mp3s like that XM mp3 player.
10. CD ripping/burning with codec support – For a media player to win over iTunes users, it’s a must! Sure, a serious project might require something more complex, but for quick plop in and burn, it’s a good idea.
11. Extras for audiophiles – I know most of this is OS/kernal stuff or for Pulse audio if you use it, but it needs stuff like surround support, special EQ settings for high end headphones, etc.

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