Re: [Usability] [jokosher-devel] Play/Pause or Play and Pause buttons in Jokosher (fwd)

[Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie>]

forwarding to the list since message didn't appear in the moderation queue
for me to allow it through in the normal way

-- 
Alan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2007 12:16:32 -0500
From: Laszlo Pandy <laszlok2 gmail com>
To: Calum Benson <Calum Benson Sun COM>
Cc: Stuart Langridge <sil kryogenix org>,
     Jean-Francois Arseneau <jf arseneau gmail com>, usability gnome org,
     jokosher-devel-list gnome org
Subject: Re: [jokosher-devel] [Usability] Play/Pause or Play and Pause
    buttons in Jokosher

Calum Benson wrote:
>
> The arguments against:
>
> - "Stop" has no real meaning in digital media, "Pause" is sufficient, so
> you're only ever going to need Play and Pause functions, which are
> effectively opposite states.  And it's spatially inefficient to have two
> buttons for opposite states, ergo you only need one button.
>

Well in Jokosher stop kind of has a function. Pause keeps the audio at
the current position (so you can hit play and pick up where you left
off) whereas stop will take you back to the beginning.

> Personally, I blame Apple.  Until the iPod came along, every CD player
> (and of course cassette player) I ever owned had separate Play, Pause
> and Stop buttons.  But that wouldn't have fitted so nicely onto a
> clickwheel, so now everyone's used to overloaded buttons :)
>

I blame apple too. Banshee seems to copy a lot of things from iTunes,
and that would include their play/pause button, which totem now uses as
well. However Jokosher is different from either banshee, totem or
rhythmbox in the fact that we require a stop button. Currently we use a
play toggle button just like rhythmbox. Is it worth trying to keep
Jokosher's play/pause button consistent with any of these applications
since the stop button is already inconsistent with them all?

Laszlo