Winamp
Born 1997. Died 20 December 2013.
Winamp passed on 20 December 2013, having lived sixteen years as the media player that taught a generation to organise music. Born in 1997, it offered a playlist, a spectrum analyser, and the conviction that software could have personality. It really whipped the llama’s ass. AOL acquired it in 1999 for more than eighty million dollars. Streaming arrived. The company did not adapt. In November 2013 AOL announced the shutdown. The website would go dark. The player would no longer be available for download. On 20 December it stopped. He is survived by every streaming service that replaced the playlist, and by the memory of a time when your music lived in a folder and a program you chose.
Winamp.com and associated web services will no longer be available.
Acquired and neglected
Mourned by Those who whipped the llama's ass, users who skinned their players, and anyone who remembers when listening meant opening a program.
Spotify, which replaced the playlist; the llama, which has not been seen since; and the memory of six million dollars a year that was not enough to keep it alive.