While the old-pro listeners to IT Conversations tend towards subscribing to our RSS feeds, newcomers often prefer to stream instead. Right now we have an admittedly baroque UI that offers too many choices: streaming in the Windows Media Player or from our ShoutCAST server, as well as two flavors of downloads: MP3 and AAC. I want to cut that back to just two choices: stream or download.

Downloads will be MP3 only, since I think we’ll soon have a solution for you iPod users who prefer bookmarkable AAC files. But for those who prefer to stream, I want to replace both Windows Media and ShoutCAST.

Instead, I’d like to have some simple embedded player with tape-drive style controls, and I need some advice from those of you who know more about that kinda stuff. What’s the best solution? A Flash player? Something else I don’t know about?

Is there a Flash guru out there that would be willing to volunteer some time to help us implement a Flash-based solution?

Update: Thanks to comments from a whole lotta folks out there, I just tested and installed the $19.95 Wimpy Button Flash player as a replacement for the more complex Windows Media Player an our ShoutCAST MP3 streams. You’ll find the Play Now button on all of our recent Detail pages. (It won’t play our older shows that were recorded at sample rates and bitrates not compatible with Flash.)