Winamp Stories

Winamp is finally giving up the ghost and although I wasn't a regular user of Winamp even way back in the good old days of the Dotcom boom, it's a sad reminder that the world really does move on.

I actually used the less attractive JetAudio MP3 player during the glory days of Napster. However, Winamp was installed everywhere I looked, from computer stores to workstations. It got to the point that whenever I looked at a Windows XP desktop, I was pretty sure Winamp was installed. Fresh Windows OS reinstallations from customers and friends almost always included a trip to Download.com to download the .exe setup file for Winamp. As a testament to Winamp's popularity at the time, free application icon sets downloadable from designers always included a Winamp .ico file. In contrast, I'm not sure anyone creates application icons for iTunes for fear of Apple's legal reprisals.




I realize that Winamp was never a one-trick pony but perhaps the most memorable feature I can recall from the original Winamp releases were the "magnetic" sections you can snap to each other. I dabbled with Shoutcast radio but I never took to it as I have with podcasts today. As a Linux user, I can't help but associate Winamp with Windows. Worst, as an ex-technical support trainer for an AOL company, I can't shake off the feeling that it really could be AOL's mismanagement that doomed Winamp. On the other hand, I can't really imagine Winamp successfully going open source considering there are plenty of better options available such as Amarok, Totem, Banshee and Clementine.

Today's generation will more likely shrug off news of the demise of Winamp but for better or worst, older users will look back at the nascent days of MP3s,  incredibly ridiculous Yahoo! commercials and Winamp with fondness and respect.