I'm narrowly interested in Parker's observations about responsiveness and UX, which I think are unfounded; I think a web app is a better user interface than most desktop players.
I subscribe to Rdio for the value proposition of "I'm not going to buy more music, I'm just going to use this thingy to get it", so the notion of what files are on my hard disk is moot. I'm sure there's some independent dubstep artist who is Very Important to you that exists on no subscription service, but I assure you that my use case represents the mainstream: the fact that I even care about how much of Pitchfork's "Best New Music" is on Rdio already sets me far apart from the Lil Wayne fans that make up most of the market.
I hear you. The Rdio and Mog web interfaces are stunning...in many ways better than iTunes and Spotify. But I still feel there is an impermanence or fleeting feel to a web site when it comes to a music player.
And I do think incorporation of the unclouded content is a bona fide advantage.
I subscribe to Rdio for the value proposition of "I'm not going to buy more music, I'm just going to use this thingy to get it", so the notion of what files are on my hard disk is moot. I'm sure there's some independent dubstep artist who is Very Important to you that exists on no subscription service, but I assure you that my use case represents the mainstream: the fact that I even care about how much of Pitchfork's "Best New Music" is on Rdio already sets me far apart from the Lil Wayne fans that make up most of the market.