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Comment by danso | Hacker News Reader

Ignoring scaling issues, I don't see how they could compete with radio, in terms of informational and artistic value. If their premise is that radio is simply content read out loud, then that is a vast underestimation of the polish and narrative structure that radio producers add to a broadcast.

Most radio anchors ARE qualified to be professional voice actors. But a great radio report is not just great writing, but a different form of writing.

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Have you tried the app? It is so different from radio content that I am a bit confused when people say that radio will be their competition.

I have two types of commutes with two very different sets of problems. I drive a car and ride the T (subway) in and around Boston/Cambridge.

When driving I (obviously) can't read. When riding the T it is usually a pain to read because there is no reception so the content must be preloaded and on top of that there are often no seats. It is not fun trying to operate an iPad[1] with one hand while holding onto a bar for dear life with the other.

Umano solves the car problem by having real humans reading to me and giving me the ability to queue multiple articles in advance. Once the app allows users to preload content it will solve all of my T pain points because I will be able get my news fix aurally without any reception needed. I would gladly pay for that.

Also, as others have mentioned, I see this as much more than an app for commuters. This seems perfect for the gym.

[1] I don't enjoy reading on the iPhone if I can help it because of the need to constantly scroll.

@weisser. Yes we imagine Umano being used in many more cases than just commuting including the gym, cooking in the kitchen, walking your dog, etc. Basically anytime you could be listening to music.

In terms of preloading content, it will be in our next release ;). Already implemented. Just waiting on Apple.

Please let us know at support@sothree.com any pain points you have in the app or anything else you would like to see.

> Basically anytime you could be listening to music.

That will be one of your core existential challenges, though...right? Almost everyone prefers listening to music...the average person bases a significant amount of their time acquiring and idolizing music...and so you don't have much time to work with. After my commute is over, I will be at a computer screen listening to spotify as I either work or read websites...there is no way I can be listening to written material.

I'm being overly negative here...it's not that the execution is poor, it's that I think you underestimate the immense behavioral patterns that you have to upend for this app to be as integral to a person's lifestyle as Spotify or the radio

I think we are quickly moving away from decades where people spent significant time acquiring music. My 2 terabyte music library was rendered mostly pointless after I got Spotify premium (I say mostly because some is not available on the service). The entire purpose of collecting all that music was not because I listened to many of the tracks frequently but because I wanted them playable with a click of a button if I ever desired to give them a listen. Now people can skip the collection building phase and also access their (Spotify's) entire collection anywhere and on many devices.

I don't think people that want to listen to music are going to listen to anything else. I DO believe that people who want to listen to news articles may settle for listening to music if the methods for accessing what they desire are not convienient.

But I just don't see the problem exactly...I mean, what you are describing is the exact niche that radio has filled...the reading of information aurally...something that is unique from TV and print. And of course radio, never mind podcasts and audiobooks, will be their competition. You can only consume one stream at a time and it's hard to imagine people juggling around several different audio-information apps each day.

I'll download the app for my trip tomorrow, and I appreciate the idea that some things have to be experienced rather than explained...but I almost can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, as your situation describes the kind of person who is satiated by radio and podcasts. The This American Life app, for example, completes my commute.

* OK I just downloaded the app and used it while brushing my teeth. I don't think it compares to radio...as I said, radio production is very involved and the use of ambient sound and scene transitions is integral to the audio story telling format.

Don't get me wrong, I love podcasts but they are completely different. The creators of podcasts decide what I will be listening to as well as the sequence. With this app I'm essentially queuing articles as I would songs and choosing not only the "genre" but also the order in which I listen to them. Certainly the offerings are somewhat sparse but I expect that to change. Pandora is considered a noninteractive stream so that means a podcast or radio broadcast is even less interactive. They really are not interactive in the slightest. Umano is an interactive stream like Spotify.

One way it separates itself from radio is that radio is pretty much a one-way street; you don't really choose what you listen to unless you change the station. What's nice about the app is that it is almost a cross of a high-brow Reddit with radio. You can select which stories you want read aloud after reading brief, one sentence summaries. It ends up sounding like a customized BBC news program tailored to user, though with American accents.

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