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Will last.fm ever ask for the last time?

Written by Martin Belam
Published 21 September, 2008
Categories: Apple, Application design, Microsoft, Music, Usability

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I love last.fm. You love last.fm. Everybody loves last.fm.

It is a cool poster child for the Web 2.0 generation, and the fact that they built their business model on avoiding paying streaming royalties in the UK as much as possible is neither here nor there to most people.

But...

...installing the application on your Windows XP PC can be really sucky.

The problem is that the Last.fm application seems to pay no attention to the account settings on the machine, and who has actually done the installing. I got it up and running, used the wizard to link it to my last.fm account, and was soon happily scrobbling away from my iTunes library and my iPod.

But, I'm on a shared computer that my wife also uses. She has her own XP login, and has her own music library and her own iPod which she runs from her own instance of iTunes. And she doesn't have a last.fm account.

Now, however, every single time she starts up iTunes, the last.fm application wakes up, and asks her to put in her account details.

Every single time.

I've been through the wizard, and can't find any option in it to stop it auto-starting when she is logged into her XP account, even though she has never chosen to install the software.

Why not include a simple "No thanks, I'm not interested, don't bug me in the future thanks!" button when the software runs under a login that it wasn't installed under?

Posted by Martin Belam, September 21, 2008
Read more posts on currybetdotnet about: Apple, Application design, Microsoft, Music, Usability

The views expressed on currybetdotnet are my own, and do not reflect the views of my current or former employers.

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About Martin Belam

I'm a London-based internet consultant and writer, with 8 years experience in product management, information architecture, and user experience design for global brands like Sony, Vodafone, The Guardian and the BBC. I specialise in advising on search, widgets, RSS, online news publishing and bulk email delivery.
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email: martin.belam@currybet.net
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