Kanye West's Stem Player – An engineering disaster
krystalgamer.github.io
krystalgamer.github.io
Almost makes me think its GPT3 or something.
This comment is so worn and beat on HN.
I’ll take your word for it, but “consumer” is not the lens through which the author is critiquing the device.
You mean you did nothing but create tracks of insufficient fidelity burdened with copyright issues. Mostly, I have to agree with you, but oranges are not apples, and what you've created can't be shopped or sold, and even if it could, the poor fidelity of the source tracks (whatever Stem player produces for you to use) would prevent market interest in all but lofi consumers within whatever genre it classifies as, if they exist. But you entertained yourself, and that is really all that is necessary to validate the product.
It's interesting you call it a toy, the team behind it calls the next musical revolution. Your expectations were met, while the ones they set weren't.
I really enjoyed the post, I think it took me through every emotion I've ever felt as an engineer throughout my career. Also, the detail with which you went through how you reverse engineered the product was incredible. I learned a lot.
The combined hardware and service seems to be highly experimental, and this is a startup finding its way. Not to excuse erratic behaviour, but none of this feels out of the ordinary or worthy of this level of attack.
The coda at the end, about the failed attempt to work together, gives a possible explanation for the high level of saltiness. (And it should really be at the beginning by way of disclosure.) It’s a shame there wasn’t a culture fit between the parties.
I was suggested to do a two-parter, but to me it didn't feel right. I think the current layout allows for people who are mostly in for the tech to quit mid-way.
> combined with some really unnecessary (and sexually graphic) insults of the Stem Player/Kano founder.
Understandable. For me it was cathartic, compiling their dirt and putting them in a neat package as in to show how under-prepared they actually are.
> failed attempt to work together, gives a possible explanation for the high level of saltiness.
The problem wasn't the fallout but the fact I dropped what I was doing to really start with them on a good feet. The fact Alex wanted to talk to me on a Sunday afternoon resonated with me, but as soon as I was ready to on-board it seemed that were overwhelmed. I'm not saying they weren't, but my expectations were sky high.
In the end, dropping my project to help them bit me in the ass, which contributed to the bitterness.
> And it should really be at the beginning by way of disclosure.
I wanted to do so, but at the same time I guess until "Stem Player or hype as a product" section is not as present. Also, a lot of people thought I got a lawsuit when I took the project down and I never told the story.
The review was...unflattering
https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/5/7162861/will-i-am-puls-sm....
Nothing will ever stop that guy from hustling.
And it's not what they do until it is. Amazon is making some decent movies and series.
It also requires taste and vision, two things that Kanye West utterly lacks.
Popularity and quality are orthogonal.
Kanye's music, particularly from before the last few years, has been well reviewed by critics. His shoes were popular among "sneaker heads", or people for whom sneakers are a hobby.
I'm not saying that they are bad, just that they aren't at the same level as brands like bose and sennheiser which are way less focused on celebrities branding.
Anyway, the point still stands, Beats is considered a fashion brand, it was used by athletes all around the world a couple years ago, now athletes are all in on apple airpods and it's been a while since I've seen someone talking about buying a beats.
Kanye develops Stem Player
Neil Young thinks he's more powerful than Spotify
Kanye thinks he's more powerful than Jesus
hmmm
Nope. Nope. Not going to do that.