Fifteen to twenty years ago, Winamp was the MP3 player that everyone used. It was the first MP3 player not to suck: playlists, shuffle, convenience. I asked friends on Facebook earlier and am surprised at how many people I know still swear by it.
Justin Frankel started Winamp (and the company, Nullsoft) in 1997 at age 18. A few players, including Fraunhofer’s original shareware MP3 encoder and player, were circulating in the college dorm server underground, but there was nothing to organise and play your MP3s with anything like the convenience of a CD. Frankel saw MacAmp and was inspired to write his own. Winamp’s straightforward usability rapidly made it the player of choice. {read}