The music has died.
Well, at least for sailors and Marines who were using Pandora to stream tunes via the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet.
The issue: Pandora requires versions of software that’s too new for the versions installed on their computers. It looks like the bug is in the browser – a good chunk of military computers are outfitted solely with Internet Explorer 6 (Microsoft is now up to version 9). Pandora, however, requires at least IE 7 (or, in case you’re curious, Safari 4, Firefox 3.6.3 or Chrome 7 as well).
While the software is old and frustratingly clunky, the military has been slow to install the latest and the greatest browsers out of security concerns. Here at Scoop Deck, we’ve heard stories of sailors who are bummed that they can’t use Mozilla’s versatile Firefox or Google super-fast Chrome on their work computers. Some have installed unauthorized versions only to have their IT guy come over and scrub the software off.
If you’re hard-pressed for a Pandora fix, you can sidestep the whole browser issue: Just install the Pandora app on your smartphone (make sure it won’t gobble up your monthly data allotment) or try another free music service. Or go old school and bust out a phonograph.
