> MP3 player UX has ever been comparable to what Spotify offers nowadays.
You might have different experiences to me.
My iPod was never a distraction whilst driving in the way that Spotify, with it's manifold failure modes and inconsistent/unresponsive UX, can be.
With depressing regularity I drive without either music or podcasts because that's preferable to dying (or killing someone else) in a car crash because I'm fussing with Spotify after it's crapped out in some weird way yet again.
Again, not a problem I ever had with my iPod. I know they do crash occasionally - happened to a friend - but I can't remember a single incident in the 7 - 8 years I used mine regularly (multiple hours, every day) where it crashed.
Spotify is terrible software to the point of being dangerous. I can't see how that is desirable UX.
Your experience does sound demoralizing. I am not sure I have had Spotify crash on me thus far and certainly not with any regularity. I think it's safe to assume that you have an untypically bad experience, because if what you described was true for most people, Spotify would have no users.
Which begs the question, why do you stick to it? There are competing services. How could they possibly do a worse job, in light of what you are describing?
Spotify crashes on me quite a bit too but I stick with it because my kids like Spotify and we have a family subscription which is a pretty good deal. I really dislike the Spotify UI, especially the way podcasts are given so much screen space and it's something I have no interest in and can't figure out how to disable it.
I had free Apple Music for six months and I think it actually sounds better than Spotify (or at least I preferred it, I absolutely do not have audiophile ears) but I don't want to pay for a third music service (we also have Pandora because their radio stations are great) and my kids prefer Spotify.
I find Apple Music to be pretty good except in CarPlay where the features that ostensibly make driving safer make it more dangerous. If I'm parked, I have access to the whole collection. If I'm moving, there's a tiny fraction available, or I can use Siri to try to get what I want. If course, Siri is stuck on one language at a time and my collection has many, some of which I can't even pronounce. What could have been a quick scroll to find the album or artist I want becomes a frustrating experience in finding something acceptable for the mood.
I'll agree that people with early iPods had an easy time finding their music. If you truly love recommendation engines, that old style is not for you. But it would be nice to have the same interface on CarPlay for the rest of us.
You might have different experiences to me.
My iPod was never a distraction whilst driving in the way that Spotify, with it's manifold failure modes and inconsistent/unresponsive UX, can be.
With depressing regularity I drive without either music or podcasts because that's preferable to dying (or killing someone else) in a car crash because I'm fussing with Spotify after it's crapped out in some weird way yet again.
Again, not a problem I ever had with my iPod. I know they do crash occasionally - happened to a friend - but I can't remember a single incident in the 7 - 8 years I used mine regularly (multiple hours, every day) where it crashed.
Spotify is terrible software to the point of being dangerous. I can't see how that is desirable UX.