Nic's dashboard

I love it when a service provider replies so promptly (and has even read and understood my message)! So, thank you! I look forward to an update in the future!

Thanks! – Nic, on March 12, 2010 15:55

For the record... on the Mac (at least) you can switch to a window view (and then minimize or hide as normal) using CMD/F (maybe this will work in windows using CTRL/F??? or some other combination).

Of course, this information is NOT in the FAQ, either here or on Voddler's main site... it's in the ReadMe file when you install. Not helpful.

I would really like to give some praise for the business idea and model for Voddler... but it seems that is all I can give praise for. It's interesting to note how few comments have been posted here, which I suppose indicates that there are a number of issues with Voddler.

Sadly, these are also spread across many categories:

1) Poor support on this site. It seems employees are just stabbing at trying to answer and help... but no one is really coordinating a concept of customer service.

2) A very poor main website. FAQ is poor, and for a Mac user, more or less useless.

3) The user interface is slow (Mac) and poorly thought out. I love the idea of a simplified keyboard, and being a Mac user with a remote control, it should be really really easy. But, a) it doesn't work out of the box with Snow Leopard... and requires a trawl through the forum to fix... no simply FAQ from Voddler on how to fix. And b) most people won't have a remote.

But back to the interface... even with a remote, it is confusing... hard to browse movies, because of the zoom feature over a title. Slow. No search feature. Nice menu options that don't do anything (why put TV series there if it's not implemented yet?)... If you really want to see a user interface, consider FrontRow... even Windows Media Edition as was has done better.

Also, why a forced full screen? I don't mind it defaulting, but if Voddler hangs, I can't easily even force the program to quit.

4) The client crashes. Maybe not the Windows client. But the Mac one does. Oh, and people seem to have problems with crashes at the same point of a movie. This seems to have been reported first at least a month ago... and 13 hours ago it is still happening to other users!

5) I now notice (BUT NO MENTION anywhere on your website when I downloaded on receipt of my invitation) on GetSatisfaction that the Mac client is supposedly ALPHA? I'm a Mac user, but a great respecter of Windows and Microsoft... so I'm not trying to knock anything. I understand a business model that says you need to focus on the most popular or well penetrated OS... but please don't underestimate the influence of Mac users, especially in this particular market. I think you do yourselves a disfavour.

5) I have lived in the UK and watched the BBC iPlayer and Sky TV start off with the file sharing protocols (or similar) that you are using... you will be aware that now, it is almost all streaming from servers with the exception of those who chose to download within their clients (something you don't have anyway). I'm not in a position to make a market judgement and hopefully you have done your research... but judging by comments on this forum it does not seem to be popular.

6) I'm not sure how important the debate is today about the movies that ARE free and the movies that are charged (or even how competitive your pricing is / will be)... sure you are still in a closed trial. I feel that there are so many other issues that you need to resolve, that content doesn't really matter (although, catch 22, to get users to try your service you will need something to attract people).

Finally, in closing, I'm not sure if your business plan includes penetration of the world's most important market, the USA? But, right now, I can assure you I would rather pay $2.99 or even $4.99 on the US iTunes store and rent a movie that way. It works. First time. Flawless interface. Same 24 hour model for rental, but I can download and watch offline. Oh yes, and iTunes is fully supported in windows as well.

Sorry I couldn't be more positive, but I am writing this in the hope that a senior manager at Voddler will read this. And think over it.

I'd be more than happy to discuss my thoughts with you and to help you. I love competition, and I'd like to see you make a dent in a market that the movie studios have stupidly tried to overcontrol. I make these comments because I'd like to see you succeed!

I would really like to give some praise for the business idea and model for Voddler... but it seems that is all I can give praise for. It's interesting to note how few comments have been posted here, which I suppose indicates that there are a number of issues with Voddler.

Sadly, these are also spread across many categories:

1) Poor support on this site. It seems employees are just stabbing at trying to answer and help... but no one is really coordinating a concept of customer service.

2) A very poor main website. FAQ is poor, and for a Mac user, more or less useless.

3) The user interface is slow (Mac) and poorly thought out. I love the idea of a simplified keyboard, and being a Mac user with a remote control, it should be really really easy. But, a) it doesn't work out of the box with Snow Leopard... and requires a trawl through the forum to fix... no simply FAQ from Voddler on how to fix. And b) most people won't have a remote.

But back to the interface... even with a remote, it is confusing... hard to browse movies, because of the zoom feature over a title. Slow. No search feature. Nice menu options that don't do anything (why put TV series there if it's not implemented yet?)... If you really want to see a user interface, consider FrontRow... even Windows Media Edition as was has done better.

4) The client crashes. Maybe not the Windows client. But the Mac one does. Oh, and people seem to have problems with crashes at the same point of a movie. This seems to have been reported first at least a month ago... and 13 hours ago it is still happening to other users!

5) I now notice (BUT NO MENTION anywhere on your website when I downloaded on receipt of my invitation) on GetSatisfaction that the Mac client is supposedly ALPHA? I'm a Mac user, but a great respecter of Windows and Microsoft... so I'm not trying to knock anything. I understand a business model that says you need to focus on the most popular or well penetrated OS... but please don't underestimate the influence of Mac users, especially in this particular market. I think you do yourselves a disfavour.

5) I have lived in the UK and watched the BBC iPlayer and Sky TV start off with the file sharing protocols (or similar) that you are using... you will be aware that now, it is almost all streaming from servers with the exception of those who chose to download within their clients (something you don't have anyway). I'm not in a position to make a market judgement and hopefully you have done your research... but judging by comments on this forum it does not seem to be popular.

6) I'm not sure how important the debate is today about the movies that ARE free and the movies that are charged (or even how competitive your pricing is / will be)... sure you are still in a closed trial. I feel that there are so many other issues that you need to resolve, that content doesn't really matter (although, catch 22, to get users to try your service you will need something to attract people).

Finally, in closing, I'm not sure if your business plan includes penetration of the world's most important market, the USA? But, right now, I can assure you I would rather pay $2.99 or even $4.99 on the US iTunes store and rent a movie that way. It works. First time. Flawless interface. Same 24 hour model for rental, but I can download and watch offline. Oh yes, and iTunes is fully supported in windows as well.

Sorry I couldn't be more positive, but I am writing this in the hope that a senior manager at Voddler will read this. And think over it.

I'd be more than happy to discuss my thoughts with you and to help you. I love competition, and I'd like to see you make a dent in a market that the movie studios have stupidly tried to overcontrol. I make these comments because I'd like to see you succeed!

(BTW, the iPhone lets you change language amazingly easy by clicking the globe icon right on the keyboard by the space bar... just add both English and Norwegian [I use Swedish and English] as languages and then you can just switch between language depending on which one you are typing at any point. A really cool feature. – Nic, on January 05, 2010 10:40