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wtempest

Listed below are comments made by wtempest between Wednesday, 13th August 2008 and Tuesday, 7th April 2009.

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The new web site: one week on 2:22pm on 07 Apr 2009 And another thing .... on the old homepage, you could click on Drama, then on Afternoon Play and see all the current week's plays (and the previous week's) with synopsis and cast lists. Easy to plan your listening, easy to listen to something that catches your fancy. No such luck on the new site. The only way to see what's coming up on Afternoon Play appears to be by checking the schedule day by day. As for trying to search by genre - well others have commented on the lack of rhyme and reason in the way programmes are classified.

Yes, as a Canadian listener, a certain amount of Radio 4 programming is local, but a fair amount appeals no matter where you're living - the dramas, In Our Time, Thinking Allowed, Reith Lectures, science. And if there's nothing of immediate interest, there Radio 3, Radio 7 and World Service or the archives of Radio 4 programmes like Beyond Belief, Thinking Allowed or In Our Time to stretch my mind while working at the computer.

This redesign - like the Radio 7 redesign - and the iPlayer seems to have been done with TV viewers in mind - more style, less substance.

wtempest
The new web site: one week on 1:49pm on 07 Apr 2009 I suggest you look at Beyond Belief to see why the redesign is being received negatively. Beyond Belief is listed under Programmes, but can be found by using the "Search BBC" function. This takes you to the old homepage where the archive goes back to 2002 and is listed by topic, e.g. 'dreams', Darwinism'. There is also a link to the new homepage where archive only goes back to 2007, programmes are listed only by air date - and none are available. Same problems with Thinking Allowed, Material World, In Our Time, etc. Every click on the old website now takes at least 3 clicks on the new site to reach the same goal. Admittedly, the user is now dealing with page after cloying page of glitz and glamour to reach the content, but I think most Radio 4 listeners are interested in substantive content and less concerned with visual high style.

wtempest
BBC iPlayer Website Redesign 1:38pm on 14 Aug 2008 Wednesday, Anna, the host of Radio 4's 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board, recommended to posters on the 'Are You Happy With The New iPlayer?' thread that they cross-post to the iPlayer blog and other related blogs.

I'm in Canada, and Radio 4 has been basically unavailable since Friday, Aug. 8, as 'Listen Again' - and for much of the time 'Listen Live" also returns the message "Audio not available at this time" Chunks of BBC7 and Radio 3 are also 'Audio not available at this time' on BBC iPlayer, although BBC7's LA page is still working and Radio 3's The Essay works when you access LA at The Essay page on Radio 3's website.

The iPlayer is glitzy, glamourous even. However, these first few weeks it's been slow to load, cumbersome to navigate, unstable, and unreliable. With the old Radio Player it was possible to launch a program and continue to work in other applications. Not with iPlayer. In other words, iPlayer is everything the old Radio Player was not. Just compare the two for ease of use and stability. The Radio Player is still attached to the International Version of the BBC Radio's Home Page and offers the World Service and a few other stations. The difficulties start with the fact that you have to switch to the UK Version of the Home Page just to access BBC iPlayer.

The whole thing seems geared to UK television viewers, which is fine, but radio is a different medium. Radio listeners don't need a photo of a young woman in bed reading a book - they want to listen to 'Book At Bedtime'. The different mediums really need different players, particularly for those who listen via the internet. iPlayer by the way stalls and restarts and stops and restarts - perhaps it's buffering instead of streaming?

I've been listening to BBC Radio via the internet while working for the last 5 years while (knowing that if I have a phone call or other interruption I can just reset the current program) And on every survey I've answered for you, I've said I'm willing to pay a reasonable monthly fee (C$5-10 a month, which is more than the $2.00 a month I pay the cable company for BBC World - it's part of a package deal). However, that willingness to pay was based on the ease of use and reliability of Radio Player.

A number of Radio 4 and BBC7 listeners have posted work-arounds, which allow you to access and listen to programs that iPlayer thinks don't exist, but work-arounds shouldn't be necessary.

My suggestion would be to restore full functionality and station line-up to the Radio Player on the International Version home page and leave the glamourous iPlayer for UK users.
The latest on our audio improvements 6:13pm on 13 Aug 2008 Wednesday, Anna, the host of Radio 4's 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board, recommended to posters on the 'Are You Happy With The New iPlayer?' thread that they cross-post to the iPlayer blog and other related blogs.

On Tuesday, I posted this to the Radio 4 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board.

It's Tuesday and here in Canada most Radio 4 programming from last Friday onwards is still unavailable. The same is true of many Radio 3 and BBC 7 programs on the flashy iPlayer. Although, to be fair, BBC 7's Listen Again links which use Real Player are working fine.

Like the majority of other posters on various Radio 4 messageboards, I'm not happy with the new iPlayer. It represents a triumph of empty style and glitter over workmanlike functionality. The old RadioPlayer is not glitzy, but it works easily and smoothly and is accessible from the International Version of the BBC Radio home page - to access iPlayer, however, you have to switch to the UK Version. You can compare the two since Radio Player is still attached to the International Version home page offering World Service and a few other international stations.

The iPlayer was apparently designed for UK users who like to stream TV via the internet with internet radio users thrown in as an afterthought. It does demonstrate that there was a sound reason for having separate players for Radio and TV - even if you want to use iPhone like graphics and Flash coding. I'm a subscriber to BBC World (BBC Canada's schedule is too packed with 'lowest common denominator' programing to be worth the fee) But BBC Radio has content worth listening to - except that the new iPlayer is making it as difficult as possible.

In BBC surveys I've answered over the years, I've always said I'm willing to pay a reasonable monthly fee for BBC Radio, but I think I'd need to rethink that sentiment if it meant being stuck with iPlayer, which is slow to load, cumbersome, unstable when it does decide to play a program, unreliable when it comes to having audio streams available, cluttered with visual junk (see Book At Bedtime - a photo of a young woman in bed is a total waste) that adds nothing to the functionality of the iPlayer, and a bandwidth hog that prevents you from doing any other work on your computer.

A notice - even if pure spin - on the station home pages to the effect that you're experiencing difficulties with iPlayer and some programs are not available as a result would be much more courteous than having to hunt through various messageboards in hopes of finding an explanation.
BBC iPlayer & Radio 6:10pm on 13 Aug 2008 Wednesday, Anna, the host of Radio 4's 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board, recommended to posters on the 'Are You Happy With The New iPlayer?' thread that they cross-post to the iPlayer blog and other related blogs.

On Tuesday, I posted this to the Radio 4 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board.

It's Tuesday and here in Canada most Radio 4 programming from last Friday onwards is still unavailable. The same is true of many Radio 3 and BBC 7 programs on the flashy iPlayer. Although, to be fair, BBC 7's Listen Again links which use Real Player are working fine.

Like the majority of other posters on various Radio 4 messageboards, I'm not happy with the new iPlayer. It represents a triumph of empty style and glitter over workmanlike functionality. The old RadioPlayer is not glitzy, but it works easily and smoothly and is accessible from the International Version of the BBC Radio home page - to access iPlayer, however, you have to switch to the UK Version. You can compare the two since Radio Player is still attached to the International Version home page offering World Service and a few other international stations.

The iPlayer was apparently designed for UK users who like to stream TV via the internet with internet radio users thrown in as an afterthought. It does demonstrate that there was a sound reason for having separate players for Radio and TV - even if you want to use iPhone like graphics and Flash coding. I'm a subscriber to BBC World (BBC Canada's schedule is too packed with 'lowest common denominator' programing to be worth the fee) But BBC Radio has content worth listening to - except that the new iPlayer is making it as difficult as possible.

In BBC surveys I've answered over the years, I've always said I'm willing to pay a reasonable monthly fee for BBC Radio, but I think I'd need to rethink that sentiment if it meant being stuck with iPlayer, which is slow to load, cumbersome, unstable when it does decide to play a program, unreliable when it comes to having audio streams available, cluttered with visual junk (see Book At Bedtime - a photo of a young woman in bed is a total waste) that adds nothing to the functionality of the iPlayer, and a bandwidth hog that prevents you from doing any other work on your computer.

A notice - even if pure spin - on the station home pages to the effect that you're experiencing difficulties with iPlayer and some programs are not available as a result would be much more courteous than having to hunt through various messageboards in hopes of finding an explanation.
BBC iPlayer 2.0: Links Roundup 6:05pm on 13 Aug 2008 Wednesday, Anna, the host of Radio 4's 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board, recommended to posters on the 'Are You Happy With The New iPlayer?' thread that they cross-post to the iPlayer blog and other related blogs.

On Tuesday, I posted this to the Radio 4 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board.

It's Tuesday and here in Canada most Radio 4 programming from last Friday onwards is still unavailable. The same is true of many Radio 3 and BBC 7 programs on the flashy iPlayer. Although, to be fair, BBC 7's Listen Again links which use Real Player are working fine.

Like the majority of other posters on various Radio 4 messageboards, I'm not happy with the new iPlayer. It represents a triumph of empty style and glitter over workmanlike functionality. The old RadioPlayer is not glitzy, but it works easily and smoothly and is accessible from the International Version of the BBC Radio home page - to access iPlayer, however, you have to switch to the UK Version. You can compare the two since Radio Player is still attached to the International Version home page offering World Service and a few other international stations.

The iPlayer was apparently designed for UK users who like to stream TV via the internet with internet radio users thrown in as an afterthought. It does demonstrate that there was a sound reason for having separate players for Radio and TV - even if you want to use iPhone like graphics and Flash coding. I'm a subscriber to BBC World (BBC Canada's schedule is too packed with 'lowest common denominator' programing to be worth the fee) But BBC Radio has content worth listening to - except that the new iPlayer is making it as difficult as possible.

In BBC surveys I've answered over the years, I've always said I'm willing to pay a reasonable monthly fee for BBC Radio, but I think I'd need to rethink that sentiment if it meant being stuck with iPlayer, which is slow to load, cumbersome, unstable when it does decide to play a program, unreliable when it comes to having audio streams available, cluttered with visual junk (see Book At Bedtime - a photo of a young woman in bed is a total waste) that adds nothing to the functionality of the iPlayer, and a bandwidth hog that prevents you from doing any other work on your computer.

A notice - even if pure spin - on the station home pages to the effect that you're experiencing difficulties with iPlayer and some programs are not available as a result would be much more courteous than having to hunt through various messageboards in hopes of finding an explanation.
BBC iPlayer Radio: Radio 3 Programmes On Listen Again 6:03pm on 13 Aug 2008 Wednesday, Anna, the host of Radio 4's 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board, recommended to posters on the 'Are You Happy With The New iPlayer?' thread that they cross-post to the iPlayer blog and other related blogs.

On Tuesday, I posted this to the Radio 4 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board.

It's Tuesday and here in Canada most Radio 4 programming from last Friday onwards is still unavailable. The same is true of many Radio 3 and BBC 7 programs on the flashy iPlayer. Although, to be fair, BBC 7's Listen Again links which use Real Player are working fine.

Like the majority of other posters on various Radio 4 messageboards, I'm not happy with the new iPlayer. It represents a triumph of empty style and glitter over workmanlike functionality. The old RadioPlayer is not glitzy, but it works easily and smoothly and is accessible from the International Version of the BBC Radio home page - to access iPlayer, however, you have to switch to the UK Version. You can compare the two since Radio Player is still attached to the International Version home page offering World Service and a few other international stations.

The iPlayer was apparently designed for UK users who like to stream TV via the internet with internet radio users thrown in as an afterthought. It does demonstrate that there was a sound reason for having separate players for Radio and TV - even if you want to use iPhone like graphics and Flash coding. I'm a subscriber to BBC World (BBC Canada's schedule is too packed with 'lowest common denominator' programing to be worth the fee) But BBC Radio has content worth listening to - except that the new iPlayer is making it as difficult as possible.

In BBC surveys I've answered over the years, I've always said I'm willing to pay a reasonable monthly fee for BBC Radio, but I think I'd need to rethink that sentiment if it meant being stuck with iPlayer, which is slow to load, cumbersome, unstable when it does decide to play a program, unreliable when it comes to having audio streams available, cluttered with visual junk (see Book At Bedtime - a photo of a young woman in bed is a total waste) that adds nothing to the functionality of the iPlayer, and a bandwidth hog that prevents you from doing any other work on your computer.

A notice - even if pure spin - on the station home pages to the effect that you're experiencing difficulties with iPlayer and some programs are not available as a result would be much more courteous than having to hunt through various messageboards in hopes of finding an explanation.
Wider, bigger, better 6:00pm on 13 Aug 2008 Wednesday, Anna, the host of Radio 4's 'Choice Is Yours' Message Board, recommended to posters on the 'Are You Happy With The New iPlayer?' thread that they cross-post to the iPlayer blog and other related blogs. Radio Labs doesn't seems to have a specific post dealing with this, but this one on Barlesque appears to most appropriate. This was posted to Radio 4 on Tuesday: I'm in Canada, and Radio 4 has been basically unavailable since Friday, Aug. 8, as 'Listen Again' - and for much of the time 'Listen Live" also returns the message "Audio not available at this time" Chunks of BBC7 and Radio 3 are also 'Audio not available at this time' on BBC iPlayer, although BBC7's LA page is still working and Radio 3's The Essay works when you access LA at The Essay page on Radio 3's website. The iPlayer is glitzy, glamourous even. However, these first few weeks it's been slow to load, cumbersome to navigate, unstable, and unreliable. With the old Radio Player it was possible to launch a program and continue to work in other applications. Not with iPlayer. In other words, iPlayer is everything the old Radio Player was not. Just compare the two for ease of use and stability. The Radio Player is still attached to the International Version of the BBC Radio's Home Page and offers the World Service and a few other stations. The difficulties start with the fact that you have to switch to the UK Version of the Home Page just to access BBC iPlayer. The whole thing seems geared to UK television viewers, which is fine, but radio is a different medium. Radio listeners don't need a photo of a young woman in bed reading a book - they want to listen to 'Book At Bedtime'. The different mediums really need different players, particularly for those who listen via the internet. iPlayer by the way stalls and restarts and stops and restarts - perhaps it's buffering instead of streaming? I've been listening to BBC Radio via the internet while working for the last 5 years while (knowing that if I have a phone call or other interruption I can just reset the current program) And on every survey I've answered for you, I've said I'm willing to pay a reasonable monthly fee (C$5-10 a month, which is more than the $2.00 a month I pay the cable company for BBC World - it's part of a package deal). However, that willingness to pay was based on the ease of use and reliability of Radio Player. A number of Radio 4 and BBC7 listeners have posted work-arounds, which allow you to access and listen to programs that iPlayer thinks don't exist, but work-arounds shouldn't be necessary. My suggestion would be to restore full functionality and station line-up to the Radio Player on the International Version home page and leave the glamourous iPlayer for UK users. Regards, Tim Tempest [Personal details removed by Moderator]
BBC iPlayer: Meet The Audience 5:52pm on 13 Aug 2008 Well, this does answer the question of whether you discussed iPlayer with any radio users. It looks like you focused on TV viewers and threw radio in as an afterthought. If you are monitoring BBC Radio messageboards you will notice that most posters are unimpressed by the victory of style over substance. At least, here in Canada, Radio 4 has been basically unavailable on iPlayer since Friday, Aug. 8, as 'Listen Again' - and for much of the time 'Listen Live" also returns the message "Audio not available at this time" Chunks of BBC7 and Radio 3 are also 'Audio not available at this time' on BBC iPlayer.
The iPlayer is glitzy, glamourous even. However, these first few weeks it's slow to load, cumbersome to navigate, unstable, and unreliable. With the old Radio Player it was possible to launch a program and continue to work in other applications. Not with iPlayer. In other words, iPlayer is everything the old Radio Player was not. Just compare the two for ease of use and stability. The Radio Player is still attached to the International Version of the BBC Radio's Home Page and offers the World Service and a few other stations. The difficulties start with the fact that you have to switch to the UK Version of the Home Page just to access BBC iPlayer.

The whole thing seems geared to UK television viewers, which is fine, but radio is a different medium. Radio listeners don't need a photo of a young woman in bed reading a book - they want to listen to 'Book At Bedtime'. The different mediums really need different players, particularly for those who listen via the internet.

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