Why not an iTunes plugin?

[Pat]

I really like the concept you're going after. I also manage multiple
collections and subscribe to some of them via iTunes. But, why not
develop this as an iTunes plugin? It seems like that would give you
much better integration with iTunes and a more seamless experience for
the users.

[Doug Kaye]

I'll let Norm give the definitive answer, but I seem to recall there
was some reason. :-)

...doug

[Norman Lorrain]

Hi,
the iTunes plugin architecture lends itself to visualizations.  There was the option of using COM/Applescript, but the real show-stopper was we needed a way to retrieve a podcast's originating URL, and the corresponding RSS feed.  Neither is stored in the iTunes music database; iTunes adds it's own ID3 tags to the podcast tracks as they are downloaded.

-Norm.