Funk Babblings

A few months ago I mentioned Pandora, the really cool streaming music service that plays music that it decides is similar to what you've told it you like.

I'm not sure whether I've mentioned my SliMP3, the device I bought a few years ago from the then-embryonic Slim Devices. The SliMP3 connects to my stereo in the living room, as well as to my home computer network, and allows me to easily play my 8000+ song music library (stored on my computer running the Perl-based "slimserver" software) in the living room. nontacitare prefers to use it to play various streaming MP3 internet radio stations. For Slim Devices, the SliMP3 was basically a prototype and proof-of-concept for their line of "Squeezebox" devices, currently at hardware version 3.

Anyway, I recently got an email from Slim Devices announcing that they've teamed up with Pandora to make Pandora accessible through recent Squeezeboxes. (Unfortunately not the SliMP3 or first-generation Squeezebox.) I really like this idea, since Pandora's coolness is somewhat offset by the requirement to play it through a Flash player on the computer, and the Squeezebox would allow that music to go anywhere that the (wired or wireless) network goes.

Of course, taking advantage of this would require buying a new Squeezebox for $300 (or $250 for the non-wireless version). About what most stereo components might cost. A bonus would be that the Squeezeboxes correct the SliMP3's problem of radio interference spread across the FM band (but centered at 100MHz), so we wouldn't need to unplug it to listen to the radio anymore.