Comments on: Can Glaser and Jobs find harmony?

RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser has big plans for his company's new music-playing technology, Apple lawsuit or no Apple lawsuit.

Desperation

Can you say desperation Rob...sure you can.
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Real has screwed themselves through REAL-ly crappy software
abusive customer policies, and "nagware" over the years. They
dug their own grave.
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I think what really gets Rob is that he once employed the
designer of the iPod. Rob just wasn't enlightened enough to take
advantage. Jobs was.

[iKenny]

Haha! Funny Real.

I'd like to point out here that Rob Glaser wants to hear what the
public thinks. So Real created http://freedomofmusicchoice.org
today to let the public speak about about Real's "innovative"
product.

So Real put up a petition and allowed people to comment on the
articles they posted on their site. Guess what? 95% of those 300
who signed the petition said they believed Real had NO RIGHT to
force Apple's hand, and all of the comments said the same
thing.

So what did Real do? They pulled the petition and the comments!
Very funny indeed.

Petition Backfire

Real set up a petition that's REAL-ly backfiring. They took down
all the links to it. Want to have some fun/laughs, go read the
signatures/comments...
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?
r4apple&351

[dogmo1001]

Real cuttting prices in half for a short time...

My initial reaction to this issue was a freedom-of-use issue. People buy music; they should be able to listen to it in any device they want in a perfect world.

And by acting like a scared bully, Apple brought much derision on themselves from folks like me.

Now, Real is cutting, temporarily, prices on their music down to about $.50 a track. (It's still not as cheap as Emusic, which will never again be as cheap as it was, but that's a whole 'nother sidebar.)

And, interestingly, that brings into focus what's [i]really[/i] wrong with Real's music sale model -- by pretty much lockng their media to their software player they're already engaging in the same consumer-unfriendly tactics they're accusing Apple of.

Fifty cents a song isn't too bad a price (especially considering the hefty licensing fees to the labels that Real is presumably paying for each file) but I'll be danged if I'm going to buy media I HAVE to play in a given software player -- particularly when that player is the invasive, snoopy RealPlayer.

Since the subscription service I use (MusicMatch On Demand) uses the MM player (and boy is the new version a big pig but the service itself is pretty cool), I'm also able to play my own mp3s, wmas, and a handful of other formats -- mixed in with music streaming from my subscription with On Demand, which is pretty crucial.

This is ideal, since it lets me mix music from the subscription service and my own collection (which is covered to a large but not complete degree by OD's large but by no means universal library) intermingling the playback in real time.

If I were to buy a bunch of songs from Real I'd have to stop MusicMatch and load the RealPlayer to play them, then go back to MusicMatch to hear the rest of my music. (Also my normal media player is Winamp; my choice of players in descending order of desirability is WA, MM, WMP, and then Realplayer and Quicktime in more or less a tie for last. Although QT and Realplayer do provide marginally better video at slow broadband rates.)

These folks have to face up to a timeless reality -- if you want widespread adoption you have to adhere to interoperability standards. It was ultimately the case with the phonograph; the adoption of the CD was amazingly free of competing standards and had one of the most rapid product paradigm shifts in history.

The world of business computing has been revolutionized by the notion of interoperability. And it's clear that having core standards, even in a rapidly changing and evolving technological milieu, helped make the internet the extraordinairy technological and cultural phenomenon it is.

You'd think these would-be digital media mavens would see the handwriting on the wall and give consumers what they want instead of what the companies think the companies themselves "need."

[jerimiah797]

Are you making this up?

RealPlayer will play all the formats you mentioned. Why do you thinkn it wont? It will even play songs you bought from other online music stores, like Napster.com, etc. Jeez, do a little research.

I'm still wondering where my "freedom of choice" is

As a Mac user with an iPod, I can't wait to take advantage of $.49 downloads.

But lo and behold! I'm not able to access the Real Music store!

Some freedom of choice! :P

[HughJJorgan]

You can choose to buy a PC.

I would.

Pulling a TENGEN

Remember in 1991 during the height of the fear over "The Japanese Invasion" and "Nintendo controlling the world", an off shoot of Atari Games went to the copyright office and illegally obtained Nintendos copyrighted codes for making Nintendo-compatible games. They formed TENGEN and started manufacturing their own cartridges without Nintendos permission. Anyway, they got sued and basically faded away. I see this outcome for REAL.

If real has such a compelling product, why can't they just make their own iPod? Answer: They don't. They can't. This is just a "stupid quarterly stock price stunt".

I hope Real succeeds

The more people who go from the intuitive, non-invasive experience of iTunes to the slow, buggy, invasive, privacy destroying mess that is RealAudio the sooner Real will bite the dust it should have bitten years ago.

Beware of what you ask for.

Steve

I told you Socialist are behind this

I diss Charles Cooper in his idiotic articles all the time, pointing out how he's a socialist.

I talk about how many conservatives hate Microsoft and love linux, and how these socialists are getting behind various media companies.

Well people, this article just brings it all home. Rob Glaser is a freaking SOCIALIST. He hates america if he likes Al Franken. I think now is the time to actively start destabilizing this company and bring these REAL terrorists to a face-to-face confrontation with the citizens they are harming.

To think that a socialist controls a multi-million dollar media company makes me ill. It ends here though, Rob you fool, you have let your secret out, and now it will come back to haunt you. This I vow.

[jbelkin]

Real - the Al Qaeda of Technology

This is from the company that tries to lock away every content on the internet so they can charge a subscription?

This is from a company that took down the comments on their "freedom of choice" page - guess free speech contradicts with your Al Qaeda version of 'freedom of choice.'

Where is our freedom of choice for Real's RM/RAM files? Where's my converter for that file format to Mp3?

Where is my freedom of being able to use the REal store if I'm using anything but WINDOWS?

ALL music stores were closed to macs so apple had to invent one - PC users abandoned their stores in droves to shop at Apple's so Real's only response is to throw a brick through a competitor's front window?

Like Al Qaeda, they are more interested in destroying everything/anything just to prove they can - and in the case of Real - better to destroy consumer's ease of use now for their version of how to better make money?

[JuggerNaut]

Real Needs to Practice What It Preaches!

If Real was really all about "Freedom Of Choice" then
they would offer their content beyond the "Windows
Only" crowd.

I want to see Real practice what they preach. Give us
"Freedom Of Choice" and offer your goods to not only
just Windows, but Mac, Linux, Amiga and etc...

It's time to give consumers "Freedom Of Choice" and
finally break the "Windows Only" experience!

Real's "Freedom Of Choice" falls short in the true
meaning of the phrase. Consumer freedom spans beyond
just "Windows Only" and I think it's time that these
companies start realizing that.

Re: RealNetworks

I can't believe you did a whole interview with Glaser and never
asked him why he didn't think the whole reverse technology
thing wasn't simply stealing from Apple. AND, you let him get
away with the whole "we want what's best for consumers" scam.
Come on - it's what's best for RealNetworks. Some journalism!
I won't use RealNetworks Music Site, it's basically about theft -
there's plenty of music available other places.

[theusm]

If Rob Glaser would be Gates ...

... he would be lucky, but he isn't! Internet music and movie
download is a new and innovative business. Today it is much
harder to succeed with runner up technology like e.g. Windows
was back in the 80s.

And, to be honest, Real's marketing strategy is pretty lame. What
they tried at http://www.freedomofmusicchoice.org/ turned out
to be a massive backfire at Real - basically by non Apple
evangelists.

Glaser has to face it: Real's technology can't compete with iTMS,
and "hacking" Apple's technology can't be a solution - again, a
Bill Gates could have gotten away with this 10 years ago.

And finally, who in the business does not give choices? Try
converting Real-content into anything else ... bummer. Real is a
dead end for media. Who would ever be so smart to attack Apple
for not giving choices, and at the same time not offering a client
for Macs for Real's super innovative 0.49$ deal, which should
free the iPod?

I should stop here, othewise I would start to criticise the
interview with Glaser itself, where he can get away with things
like "we do the best for our customers" btw a probably
constantly shrinking minority ...

Do it American way not terrorist way

Rob's tactics are those of a terrorist's.

If Apple doesn't want to share theie technology then so be it. Don't go hacking your way in...

So let me get this right. If a bank won't allow him to open an account, will he go robbing that bank? Is that the lesson he is trying to preach?

I am surprised that Wall Street even is responding to lowly idea of Rob's.

I feel like insulting him but what's the point. A man without character won't suddenly develop character.

Petition against Real's Inappropriate Pretenses (eg .org)

http://www.petitiononline.com/notreal/

Read it & see if you agree!

Mike

[Earl Benser]

Real garbage

The current RealMedia is competition only for Windows Media,
and then not much competition at all. If Glaser thinks it's the
best available, then we know just how good Glaser is. Sorry,
Real, I tried your software and I trashed it shortly thereafter. I'm
not about to be suckered into trying 'harmony'.

[allantlg]

True to form

I can appreciate Glaser's resourcefulness. I cannot endorse his principle's, ethics and approach. Seems a little "relative" to me. The real hubris is to couch it in terms of "freedom for the masses". Sounds an awful lot like the previous Napster approach . . . and we all know where that has led us. Somebody always ends up "paying"!

[mortis9]

PICK THE BEST FOR YOURSELF

I USE A PC. CAN'T STAND MACS, APPLE (AS A COMPANY), OR STEVE JOBS (just as greedy as mr. gates, but with less hair and less revenue). Still, i use iTunes --> why? Cause it's the best player out there. I don't download music, i steal my friends' music and import it. That said, in regards to the format wars, i've no opinion. Generally mpeg4 derived audio formats sound better than mp3, but nearly all media players encode in some kind of next generation media format (mpeg4, wma, etc...). that said, most (not all) let you convert to mp3 (make sure not to mess with those id3 tags). i've never like real's player, too hard to navigate. they don't have the best product in that regard, never have, never will (not even second best). They only thing that this controversy will accomplish (and you can thank no one else but steve jobs for this move) is encourage more people to subject themselves to suffering through REAL's player, if for curiosity and nothing else. NICE ONE STEVE, NICE ONE.

[bigpoppa--2008]

Off your meds again, eh?

There is so much bullsh*t to what you just said I don't know where to start.

[bigcraig01]

OpenMG in Harmony

I wish Real would add support for Sony's OpenMG device in RealPlayer 10.5 Harmony.

Will Apple learn?

Remember many years ago when Apple made a computer called the Mac and a proprietary operating system and other software that was tied to it? That coupling led to Windows and the rise of Microsoft and the PC and nearly killed the company.

Apple is a pioneering company, and I understand their desire to get paid for their innovations - but does history need to repeat itself? Decouple, decouple, decouple. Let the merits of your hardware and your software stand on their own. Consumer markets want choice.

I'm not saying Real is right, but they may be doing Apple a favor in the long run. Just imagine if another PC company, like IBM, had come in and made another computer that could run Mac OS without Apple's permission back in the day? Apple would have been enraged! But . . .

Who would have the lion's share of the consumer computer OS market today if that had happened . . . would it still be Microsoft? Or maybe Apple instead?

I agree

I agree. When will Apple wake up? The problem is their arrogance. I've always said the only thing I don't like about apples are the users.

It's a cult or something.

[mortis9]

Yes and No...

I agree that apple could have garnered a far larger share of the pc market had they continued to allow third party manufacturers to license their ip and build machines running the mac os. However, remember what happened last time they tried that? Didn't go so well, too many glitches and INCOMPATIBILITIES. It was because of that trial that they've decided not to give the licensing thing another go. One reason they've got such a great product with nearly no compatability issues, glitches, or anything of the like, is because it's apple through and through. They control the software and the hardware, and it doesn't hit the market until it's thoroughly tested (by apple). Besides, who's to say how a version of OS X would run on an x86, were it rewritten for that format? Jobs would probably still keep the goodies for the all apple crowd.

[jfbiii]

Wow, what a great public bj that was

Glaser is full of it. Instead of growing the market, he's trying to
steal part of the existing market. If he would actually try to grow
the market, Steve might talk to him, maybe even work with him.
But Rob's a bs artist who doesn't care about consumers so much
as he cares about the easiest way to grab a buck. And growing
the market to get more customers is a lot harder than trying to
swipe someone else's.

If Real offered a great product, they wouldn't be so desparate.