When Ruckus was first introduced a little over two years ago, the idea excited many students: It was a legal Napster, a free iTunes, something that students could use to feed their incessant appetite for music at their favorite price.
But even before its mysterious departure from the Internet earlier this month, students were already leaving Ruckus. From problems setting up the service to songs that expired after a certain amount of time - not to mention the fact that the service wouldn't work on Macs, which a large portion of the student body own - many students still preferred iTunes, Pandora Radio or less-legal downloading services.
The brief message on the Web site announcing the service's departure has left many questions about what exactly happened to Ruckus, but to students and the Undergraduate Assembly, the larger question is whether its place should be filled with another service.
While the service's presence was not ubiquitous on campus, we believe that the University and the UA should work to find a suitable replacement.
Though Ruckus never lived up to its promise of free, easy and legal music, it had the potential to do what other avenues already cannot.
The key word, however, is suitable. Ruckus did not fit the bill for many of the students at Penn, most notably because it was not Mac-compatible. For a student body addicted to anything starting with a small 'i,' this was a major flaw and one that the replacement service must correct.
Overall, however, we hope the UA raises another Ruckus.
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