Separate the MP3 data from the tags (metadata)
 

QUALITY and PERFORMANCE for both Searching and Downloading can be greatly improved... everybody wins!

Shareaza is already doing this:

Fundamentally, any file type may have data and metadata. (.MP3, .JPG, .AVI, etc...) Let's focus on MP3's, for example:

• The audio part of an MP3 file is the data.
• The tags part of an MP3 file is the meta-data.

There are now dozens (hundreds?) of file-versions of the same data, with different metadata out there!!! If I download any file, and then fix some erroneous tags, then I've just created yet another version of the same damn MP3 data file! (Happens thousands of times a day, I'll bet!)

I wish we all could manage our MP3 data separately from the metadata!!! Lots more quality sharing could be happening, instead we are just sharing a huge spiralling vortex of file-entropy! (xxAA, where XX=RI or MP, spamming iPod ads notwithstanding!)

SHAREAZA already has implemented something like this -- for MP3's at least... and it works VERY WELL!!! I recently noticed this behavior:

• Do a search, see dozens of hits (on a one line display).
• Click to expand that line, you can see each host/file, nested under that top line.
• Hover the mouse over each file-line, see a popup with the tag metadata.
• Pick the one file-version you like best (the only difference being the tag metadata...)
• Presto! You have just decreased entropy and INCREASED QUALITY! You got to QUICKLY pick the best metadata version out there!
• You're downloading best-quality tags, not random-crap!!!
• DOWNLOAD PERFORMANCE also improves for everyone, because the tag comes from the one best source, but the larger data part comes from all available host-sources, pooled!!! It's a WIN-WIN-WIN!!!

This feature alone may have users gravitate towards Shareaza over LimeWire, imho ...

File-version-metadata-management: intuitive, easy, friendly but powerful!

Pooled (aggregated) data, independent of meta-data = much faster downloads!

Along the same lines, but maybe with much more overhead, imagine hovering over an icon on any host/file line and seeing the BITZI Ratings and COMMENTS! Woo Hoo! File-Sharing Nirvana!

Just a concept... may need some generalization + refinements...
Here's my offering... brainstorming... I'd love to beta test any prototypes!!! (I'd rather write specs and do the testing, rather than the coding... :) )

FYI: I've been using LimeWire PRO (paid 3x so far) for about 2 years now, and it's a great tool... about 6 months ago, I got Shareaza -- just to try TORRENTS... wow, those can be blazing fast, and exceptionally resilient. DL'd a 7GB file, that took a week, but it was 100% perfect when done! I've noticed many nice, powerful features in Shareaza, yet the U/I remains highly intuitive...

Consider the filename as meta-meta-data...

Say there are two files, same length, same contents, same metadata (tags) but different filenames.

Does LimeWire consider those as one file (pooling downloads) or two files (download each one separately).

IF one file, it downloads quicker, in general...

IF two files, it downloads each one (2x the work, half the speed) in general...

Now, consider the same for the tag metadata!

See what I mean... pooling the data, and separating the metadata, makes for a better network, overall. AND, if I can choose which metatata (works well in Shareaza) everybody wins! The overall quality of the network and the data pool increases with each download...