The Squeezebox: Your Home Music Chum

If you've got WiFi and you store heaps of music in iTunes, you need a Squeezebox. Last week we plugged one into the stereo downstairs. it easily networked itself and within minutes we were streaming music from our Mac upstairs into our (previously unconnected) kitchen.

I'm in awe. What a difference this thing makes. We now have simple access to all kinds of music with a minimal amount of hardware or clutter added to our living space. And it's that simplicity of access that makes me think there is finally a better solution than sticking a CD in the player.

Essentially the Squeezbox does two things: i) Streams music from any PC/Mac in the house and ii) Connects to both free and paid online music services.

I've used AI-based music services before (Last.fm, Launch etc) but there's something special about Squeezebox + Pandora. The less tangible qualities, such as - excellent sound quality, great wireless reception (which has been problematic in our house in the past) and integration into the various network services - make a huge difference. But more than allowing connection, the Squeezebox's remote let's you make playlists, rate songs, save favourites and pretty much control any of the off- or online aspects of the service.

It all 'just works'. Now this is a phrase that is bandied around by various service providers and manufacturers, but to be honest, this is the best example of it i've ever come across. The way the Squeezebox, the Squeezenetwork and Pandora integrate, is a thing of simplified beauty. Being in Australia without Tivo I can only presume that it's this that inspires that box's legendary product evangelism.

Some highlights:

Pandora's music discovery engine is really Radio 2.0. It provides some influence over the programming without the need for complete control. Just make a station out of any artist or song you can think of, and sit back and let it happen. Then give any track the 'thumbs up or down' to refine your station. So very cool.

I have my favourite RSS feeds (The Age, some sports scores and a couple of tech/gamey feeds) viewable in the kitchen via a couple of clicks of the remote.

The box is controllable over the Squeezenetwork via any connected web browser. Not exactly sure what I'll use this for but I like the idea of programming remotely (maybe i could run five or six dance parties, via some deployed Squeezeboxes).

Various plugins allow me to view TV listings or weather, change the screensaver and viewing options etc. In fact, the open source development community will hopefully continue to work to improve our home music environment for us.

Natural sounds: if having a babbling brook streaming 24 hours/day is your kinda relaxation technique, you're going to enjoy the Squeezebox.

I also have to say that if you use the Digital VMU metre screensaver, and there's any speaking in the track, it kinda looks like your device has two lively eyes that move as the voice speaks. I suspect that sensation of looking over to the corner at my Squeezebox, is as close as I'm ever going to get to looking a pet robot dog in the eyes.

Oh and now I have a Sonos-like graphical interface to control our Slimserver, thanks to Ben Klaas' Nokia 770 skin.