[mythtv] Ideas for MythMusic rewrite

[Robert Pfeifer]

> From: Kris Raney <kraney at kraney.com>
> 
> First off, I want to thank the developers for opening this up to suggestions.
> 
> My main request is that play, pause, stop, and skip use the corresponding buttons on the remote, just like when watching video. Also just like when watching video, these functions don't need representations onscreen.
> 
> For building playlists, I'd like there to be a good web UI to do the heavy lifting. From the remote, I'd really only like to have these options:
>  * select a playlist to play
>  * kick this song off of this playlist - preferably with a single button press, or maybe press + confirm. (I suggest using "down" as the reject button, as in 'thumbs down', so the number of buttons needed on the remote doesn't expand beyond what's needed for video. Ideally all the functionality would fit into up, down, left, right, enter, P, M, and I)
>  * add more songs / create a new auto playlist using songs like the current song (maybe 'up' for 'thumbs up'?)
> 
> Basically, the idea is to make it so the fundamental way that you edit your playlist is simply to listen to music, and then either confirm that the song belongs on the playlist by doing nothing, or kick it out of the playlist. The playlist becomes "correct" over time as you listen. If I want to do something more complex than that, I'll use the web interface rather than being limited to the remote.
> 
> To put it another way, the fewer controls the better.
> 
> Last thing I suggest is to have visualization running all the time in the background, and when the user starts doing something, just overlay the controls, which disappear after several seconds of inactivity. Assume that the vast majority of time will be spent just playing music, with no interaction.
> 
> - Kris Raney

Just to add my 2c:

I use the remote for everything. My MythTV unit does not have a
keyboard, and I do not want to have to boot up a separate PC every time
I wish to edit the playlist. Please continue to make all functionality
available via the remote control.

The most common way I use mythMusic is to decide I want to play either
an album, or a selection of songs from a few albums. Then I go into my
music tree and quickly select the songs I want to hear, make sure
shuffle is turned on, point at the top one, and click "Play". I don't
want this to turn into a massive effort involving a web interface, or
keyboards, or VNC sessions.

Beyond that, I'm not too fussy about how it's implemented, so long as
it's useable :-)

Regarding removing an item from the playlist, surely the natural key to
use would be "D", as this is already used as "delete" in mythTV and
mythVideo? I would definitely expect up and down to move me up and down
the playlist, so giving them novel functions would definitely violate
the user interface designer's "Law of Least Surprises" and make the
whole system somewhat unfriendly to older family members and friends.

Rob