Wednesday
05Sep2007
Coverflow Hater
Wednesday, September 5, 2007 at 07:14PM
I'm generally a pretty easy-going guy on UI matters, but one Apple innovation that I absolutely cannot stand is Coverflow.
It seems to me that Coverflow replicates everything that is frustrating and unpleasant about looking for something in the real world. In stark contrast to the organised drill-down structure and instant searching of iTunes' library views, Coverflow brings you ordering on one axis and the need to flip through item-by-item.
At least, with Coverflow on the new iPods, you can go from start to finish in a continuous spin around the click-wheel. On the iPhone and iPod touch, it's an even more tedious and inaccurate flip-flip-flip action. Simply put: Coverflow, compared to the iTunes library, is the difference between searching the racks at a record store and walking into the store, saying the album name and having the CD magically fly into your hands.
It seems to me that Coverflow replicates everything that is frustrating and unpleasant about looking for something in the real world. In stark contrast to the organised drill-down structure and instant searching of iTunes' library views, Coverflow brings you ordering on one axis and the need to flip through item-by-item.
At least, with Coverflow on the new iPods, you can go from start to finish in a continuous spin around the click-wheel. On the iPhone and iPod touch, it's an even more tedious and inaccurate flip-flip-flip action. Simply put: Coverflow, compared to the iTunes library, is the difference between searching the racks at a record store and walking into the store, saying the album name and having the CD magically fly into your hands.
Reader Comments (7)
At least you're not forced to use it.
It's not an Apple innovation.
Coverflow was originally a standalone program for browsing your iTunes collection - for those of us who take a visual approach to music and just felt like flipping through stuff, it was great. I first found it back in December 2005, looking at a screenshot of Hicks' desktop.
http://niherlas.com/2005/12/12/cool_things.html
Apple did, indeed, buy it up. And has subsequently applied it to EVERYTHING. There is no greater evidence of ex-Microsoft MBAs at Apple than the newfound abuse of this one "cool in this application" interface. That, and the vertigo-inducing new Dock.
I think different people like to browse differently.
Some people aren't looking for a specific artist when they're flipping through.
it's just like flipping through your albums or movies at home - nothing particular in mind that you want to watch - you're just looking for something that strikes you.
I've been doing this more lately. I look for an artist or album I haven't listened to in a while so I just scroll through the list until something hits me.
The only problem, however, is that a good chunk of people might not even know what albums correspond to what art.
Another good sideeffect is that with digital downloads becoming prevalent - good record covers are not getting seen. So it helps bring it back. Even if it's at a much smaller resolution . . .
I don't know if I would really use coverflow.
I don't use it in iTunes and I don't own an iPhone.
I'd guess that I would rarely use it.
But those OTHER people might . . .
Yes, but, when I'm in the mood to listen to something and I'm not quite sure what that something is, browsing via coverflow is lightyears beyond any other type of browsing on the iPod (any iPod). It lets me see artist and album information, which no other view really does - and even in iTunes, it doesn't feel as natural as it does on the iPhone.
Yeah - coverflow is pretty neat. Especially for a device with limited input methods (basically just left, right and select).
I'm working on a Coverflow based UI for a certain (not ipod) device now:
http://toxicsoftware.com/public/mark/Composition%20Flow-desktop.mp4
But it’s so pretty!
Agree with Fraser - Coverflow is stupid eye candy. If you really wanted to make it easier to find a song or album by the artwork, you'd lay them out as a quilt or patchwork, where as you moused over each it got bigger and showed you, say, the album/song title.
Someone get to work on it now! Connected Flow, we have a mission for you!
And I hereby renounce all rights to the idea. Go for it.