Ask RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser 379
RealNetworks has always been more Linux-friendly than other streaming media purveyors, and is now moving closer to the open source camp with its Helix Community effort. More recently, Real has made a big media splash by selling downloadable tunes in an iPod-compatible format. Does any of this matter, considering that world + dog seems to be jumping on the downloadable multimedia bandwagon? Can Real once again become "the" streaming media leader? Will Real's 49 cent "limited time only" song download price force other music download vendors to cut their prices? We have no idea, but hopefully Rob Glaser does. He's promised to answer your questions personally (rather than have PR people speak for him). So ask whatever you like. We'll forward 10 of the highest-moderated questions to him by email and post his answers soon after he gets them back to us.
Apple Support (Score:5, Interesting)
What's it like (Score:2, Interesting)
It still comes down to price, for a lot of us (Score:5, Interesting)
Cheers,
Erick
Re:It still comes down to price, for a lot of us (Score:1, Interesting)
Spyware (Score:5, Interesting)
Will your company ever stop the spyware attacks on users of your products?
Why should we believe anything you say?
Goodwill (Score:5, Interesting)
Why exactly would I look to Real for anything? What is better (other than price) about anything Real has to offer, compared to Apple, Microsoft, etc? What compelling reason do you offer for me to again look at Real?
Helix (Score:5, Interesting)
What is he going to do about the player? (Score:4, Interesting)
As it is, RealPlayer is universally despised for several reasons, many of them valid. the few that grind me are:
1. It's more than one click away from the main website.
2. It tries to take over your system as a default media system and sign you up for all kinds of spam on install.
3. It's BUTT ugly. It looks like the rejects from the XP UI team were hired to design it, when the rejects from the QuickTime UI team would have been a better choice.
4. I can't DL the content of RealMedia, like I can with mpeg or quickTime.
5. It's a bit [buffering 10%] too eager [buffering 25%] to send media [buffering 40%] before it's [buffering 75%] ready. And scrubbing [buffering 85%] is nearly [buffering 95%] impossible.
Fix these problems, and people might take Real Seriously. So the question is:
WHEN are you going to fix these OBVIOUS deficiencies that have plagued the player for YEARS?
RS
Turnabout? (Score:5, Interesting)
Why shouldn't Apple do this?
open keys for realmedia ? (Score:5, Interesting)
could real allow people to create and sign their REAL media that they created at no cost ?
so allow people to create their own online stores rather than sign up to itunes or MSN
this way you just sell server software to ISP's and streaming people (profitable)
regards
John Jones
Why should I trust Real? (Score:5, Interesting)
But as time went on, Real became a company I distrusted due to their spyware-like behaviour and the fact they tried to hide options to disable said behaviour in their software.
It has gotten to the point where MANY computer users I know simply refuse to install ANY Real products on their computers anymore and even boycott web sites that offer content in Real-only format.
So, why should I trust your company now? How has any of that changed?
Thanks.
Disclaimer - The preceding may have resembled a flame or troll to those who cannot tell the difference between an honset question and a troll.
Legality of Harmony (Score:5, Interesting)
FairPlay licensing (Score:5, Interesting)
Nice, but.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Real Obnoxious (Score:5, Interesting)
Why is the free version the hardest version to find on your website?
Why must I choose a custom install and play a game of "catch-em-all" to avoid some of these issues?
Why does Real assume I'm interested in news, updates, libraries, or any of the nonsense that it is configured for by your company?
In short, why does Real feel the need to be so Obnoxious? These are "real" questions posed by "real" users, like here [jogin.com] and supported by your own employees [jogin.com]!
Strategy Question (Score:5, Interesting)
Rob, what advantages does Real bring to the table? What can Real do that no other company can do? Why does Real exist? What the hell are you doing?
Re:What's it like (Score:2, Interesting)
Also, how do you really plan on setting yourself apart and being more linux-USER friendly? Most, if not all people who use linux I know also use Real Alternative for MPC on their Windows machines/partitions as opposed to the actual Real Player.
Tell us about the DRM stripping approach you took (Score:4, Interesting)
In your PR for Harmony - you stated that this was a ground up software approach.
Was there ANY reverse engineering?
I also find it VERY hard to believe that you didn't borrow some code from HYMN to produce this software - will you emphatically and categorically deny any code borrowing or reverse engineering?
Lessons learned from astroturfing (Score:5, Interesting)
Mr. Glaser, just one more question... (Score:5, Interesting)
Real Movies (Score:5, Interesting)
Will you offer the movies that currently play in movie theaters for additional fees? Will you offer the movies that just came out on DVDs?
Will you promote independent movies and if I work for an independent studio, how can we strike a partnership with Real Networks to distribute the content to your subscribers in some affordable way?
legalities (Score:4, Interesting)
Helix to play RealAudio/Video (Score:3, Interesting)
First off (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you looking to sell Real? (Score:2, Interesting)
Open Source.. but why no HELIX on Windows? (Score:5, Interesting)
Helix must build on Windows as its the basis for all your software, but Win32 users are forced to use the RealPlayer, which some may find undesirable... while other platforms have the option of Helix without proprietary codecs. Is this really choice ?
Why sell music downloads at all?? (Score:4, Interesting)
Astroturfing (Score:2, Interesting)
Not Yet - But Maybe They'll Get It (Score:5, Interesting)
I have basically all the money I want to spend on music. But whether tracks are $.39 or $.99 or $1.99 means nothing to me if I'm worried about just losing them. Some of this music I've already had ripped ot mp3 for like 7+ years now, and I can't even count the number of computers I've gone through, and it's nice and portable.
I think at some point, a brave label or two will band together, open their own store, and just offer raw 160+kbps mp3s for something cheap - probably $.49 to $1.49 for singles (probably based on the buzz level), $2.99 to $9.99 for a cd (again, popularity based pricing)... and will open the floodgates. They will do so much business they will be absolutely stunned. Ever music consumer will be amazingly spending 3x what they use to be. Record companies will be delightfully rolling in profits; consumers will be awash in music and ecstatic... everyone wins. Artists who couldn't sell CDs in the bargain bin will find audiences who will pay $2.99 for their albums, and the music industry as a whole will launch into a new era of growth.
We can only hope they realize that peoplpe hate hurdles, and DRM stops more customers from buying than it stops pirates from buying. Anyone with a clue should realize that a lot of music pirates will NOT buy music regardless of whether its free or not. If it is, they'll get it; if not, they won't. But either way, they won't pay. But many customers will pay for unencumbered music but will buy minimally or not at all from the DRM bin.
Re:What is he going to do about the player? (Score:5, Interesting)
There is a really wierd thing with real website. They have a different website depending og whenewer you are located in europa or usa.
The one you got if you visit from Europa(Atleast from denmark) you got the "old" real site which show 3 "Free download" 14 days trial" which ask you all kind of questions before it allow you to download the thing that only work 14 days anyway.
But the eu version of the site have a option to "change your location" and if you choose u.s.a as location it will bring you to the frontpage that got the "one link download"
Ofcause a interesting question to real would be: Why the difference. Why do we in EU still have to put up with all that crap just to download real?My question is.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:legalities (Score:3, Interesting)
Some people just want to be enslaved, and think that we should all lock our codecs into proprietary vendors formats and ban reverse engineering so a few companies can monopolize the market through completely artificial software & format barriers. They can pretend it's about technology but anyone with a clue can see this for what it is, lock up your cash.
It's just amazing how this Apple thing has turned rational people into drooling proprietary codec loving anti-freedom freaks.
Streambox (Score:4, Interesting)
Is there any difference between Apple invoking the DMCA on Real's reverse engineering of FairPlay and Real's prior DMCA invocation against Streambox?
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-517481.html?legacy
Also, what is your favorite kind of pie?
Rob, What will you do when Apple breaks your... (Score:5, Interesting)
And as a side question, How come your company sued another company reverse engineering your codecs? Seems what should be good for the goose should be good for the gander.
Re:Could you elaborate? (Score:5, Interesting)
Real then did what was viewed at the time as the coolest thing ever: The stock re-entrant program thingy (I forget exactly what it was called.) What it meant was that whatever the stock price was on August 31st of that year would be retroactively applied to our shares, including those that had already vested.
Rock on. Quite a few of us signed up for it on the promise of making our now-worthless shares valuable again. There was some fine print, of course. We had to remain employed at Real or we would lose all our stock, including vested shares.
The bastards fired us one month before the deadline. No warning. Our floor managers didn't even know until that morning that 15% of the entire company would be layed off that day.
I went out for lunch (yummy fish tacos!) and when I returned there was a group of employees and some security guards outside the front door. They weren't letting anyone in. After half an hour word spread that there were layoffs happening but we didn't have any details.
Finally a guy in a really expensive suit came down and told us to go home. We be getting a phone call later that evening to let us know if we still had a job.
The next day I was unemployeed and competing with 30,000 other out-of-work programmers in the Seattle area for jobs.
Now I'm back in Montana making $9/hr and eating a fair amount of ramen.
Yes, ASK THIS (Score:5, Interesting)
Real is one of the few companies left that controls a common file format and doesn't also publish an OS. And they're everywhere, from Amazon to NPR. Spyware? DRM? Distractions. This is the ball game. Nothing else matters.
Ogg Vorbis for Real's music service? (Score:3, Interesting)
Linux support (Score:2, Interesting)
From the Music Store page:
"Downloads are only available on PCs running Windows 98 and up and with:
* Internet Explorer 5.5, or newer
* Netscape 7.0, or newer"
Refunds (Score:2, Interesting)
So I suppose I should clarify - would it be worth refunding my money to try to attract customers? Or are you satisfied with me telling my eight people (according to that business rule about disgruntled customers) to avoid Real and its associated products like it was the plague?
Why is Real's software so intrusive? (Score:5, Interesting)
While it seems that Real has backed its intrusiveness down a notch during the install, I still feel like Real is telling me what to do on my computer instead of the other way around. For example - Telling Real not to start when windows starts is no easy task. I have to go through 3 or four submenus in the preferences until I find the vaguely-named SmartCenter (or StartCenter? I don't have a machine handy to doublecheck the name). Even then, when I tell it not to start with Windows, I am greeted by a scary warning message. Even with SmartCenter disabled, Real's update service still lives in my registry, starting every time I boot windows.
So my question is, why try so hard to force your software on the user? Is it worth the market share to anger and confuse your core audience? Mention Real to the average user, and their first response is "I hate that software. I wish I knew how to delete it."
I've always been taught that it's best to make your customers happy, instead of holding them hostage. Does your business model say otherwise?
What's the first thing Real will do when .....? (Score:1, Interesting)
Airtunes (Score:3, Interesting)
Do you plan to support streaming via Airtunes's protocol to adapters such as the Airport Express?
Thanks!
Hedley
Realplayer, content providers, etc. (Score:3, Interesting)
Have you considered a stripped down, player only utility for the Windows platform? I understand your desire to market other services, but honestly the current Real One offering is more of a burden on the system than it is worth.
Why do you expect content providers would pay for your Real studio application to create content for such a horrible player?
Just a CODEC to plug into Microsoft Media Player 9 would be great. Personally I use utilities to convert the RealMedia format the MPEG1, to avoid the hassle of dealing with your player product.
The earlier Windows Media production suite was also a blatent rip off of your Real Producer product. I can see Microsoft had their eyes on your company.
I haven't tried Media Player 10, maybe Microsoft took your lead in making a player utility that is bloated, slow, resource consuming, and nagware ridden?
I realize MP3 is not an open standard, and that the freeware utilities to produce MP3 audio streams are probably not licensed from Thompson, the newer holder to the rights of the mp3 format. But the compatibility across platforms can't be beat.
I won't use quicktime due to the Windows nagware feature. Once again, content producers PAY for the production tools, the end users should be able to see the end result without paying to get full screen capabilities.
If only there was a streaming video equivilent to MP3.
Why did it take you so long to wake up? (Score:3, Interesting)
I worked at a TV station a couple of years ago. At that time, we - like most everyone else - streamed using Real's codecs and formats. Since then, they have completely switched to WMV3 (for Windows Media Player 9+). I don't know the history surrounding the decision to switch, but I can certainly think of many reasons.
Everyone with just a microgram of brains could see Microsoft coming, leveraging their platform monopoly - BUT also very much helped by the fact that almost everybody hated Real's (client) player-software, and pretty much still do:
This leads me to my question: Why on Earth did you sleep for so long?! You must have seen competition coming; in such a senario: why did you strive so hard to make foes with everyone?
The Helix project was years over-due (probably too late to make a difference, by now), and your recent (and incomplete) end-user improvements on the web-site were even more over-due.
Tell me: Exactly what major changes in your organization (such as getting rid of the jerks who stressed a goofy revenue-from-deived-end-users strategy) have your completed that should make me think again about trusting your strategy, products and distribution system? I'm asking because I don't want to waste a second keeping in touch with the development of the Helix projects, unless I'm convinced that your company has turned 180 degrees.
Re:Apple Support (Score:3, Interesting)
Although, I do feel that everyone should follow suit in that music players should support a plethora of DRM formats, and the format should be open to player manufacturers that sign a similar contract to that of DVD's CSS. That way, everyone wins, and inovation is encouraged for stronger formats.
The BBC (Score:2, Interesting)
I imagine the BBC to be one of your larger customers, at least by public profile if not client connections. They've said on many occasions that they find the Real licensing model difficult to integrate with, and are publicly developing alternative encoding formats.
In the future, what argument do you have for maintained support of Real by the BBC in favour of Microsoft or Open Source alternatives?
I'm interested here in your opinion of relative quality (which is important to many Internet radio listeners), cost, ease of installation (for which Real has had some bad press before), as well as any other points you think might matter.
Many thanks,
olly.
Where is the Linux/Open Source Support? (Score:1, Interesting)
Where is Real's commitment to producing and supporting this community with online music (and hopefully videos/movies in the future)?
Be sure to finish the story (Score:2, Interesting)
You took options instead of higher pay when they were trading $52-$54. At that same time they filled a book value with the SEC of about $2.80/share. So, you were banking on the idea that what Real said was worth almost 3 dollars was going to climb even higher than $54. Definitely the definition of a blind optimist.
You also failed to mention the sweetest severance package around. Everyone laid got a pretty decent amount of cash. They brought in a company to help everyone laid off get their resumes in gear and find jobs. I remember most of the people left behind wanting to get added to the layoff because of the generous package.
Now, I'll be honest, the way the layoff happened was kind of weird. But, in retrospect, I see that they knew they had to do it but were scared. It was the first time they ever had to layoff a number of people and they didn't know what to do.
Another point, the company had over 1000 employees at the time. They needed to lay some people off. They should have dropped more. Think about it, 1000 people to support a streaming media player and server, plus some web properties. Thats an excessive head count for the business. You should be able to run that company with about 2-300 people.
Now, not to sound too cruel but, if you are presently only making $9/hr perhaps you should re-evaluate your skills. And honestly consider that maybe (just maybe) you didn't deserve the job you had.
I left Real a few months ago, and I can't get the headhunter (pimps) to stop calling me. There are a huge number of jobs available for developers.
So, my point. Tell the whole story.