Seriously, why do all of you people get so bent out of shape? I'm honestly asking here.
If you don't like a type of food, do you go on a personal crusade to ensure no one ever eats it ever again? Probably not.
If you don't like Real's business strategy, DON'T USE IT. I personally don't like the real player, never have, probably never will. I do, however, use Rhapsody and I think it's a fantastic service for the price. But that's off topic.
The real question is why Real (or any other company for that
If you don't like a type of food, do you go on
a personal crusade to ensure no one ever eats it
ever again? Probably not.
If you don't like Real's business strategy,
DON'T USE IT.
Overall, I agree with your point. However
(always a however, or I wouldn't have
responded)...
Many Slashdotters get to deal with not only the
consequences of their own software, but with
the choices of non-geek family and friends.
I have no problem saying, "I will never make the
mistake of installing another Real product on
my computer". I know better. I realize how
invasively their products behave, the poor
quality of their media formats (until they went
to basically pure MPEG-4 for everything), the
legendarily-pathetic streaming problems (what,
they never heard of "let me buffer the whole
damned thing while I get a snack, before
starting to play"?).
OTOH, every time I visit a friend or relative,
they want me to make Real go away. I ask why
they reinstalled it, and the answer inevitably
either involves "the kids did it" or "the
website told me I had to". So, not having
installed it myself, I still have to
deal with it. That irks me, just a tad.
Incidentally, sometimes even we geeks can make
mistakes. I (presume I) accidentally left a
checkbox ticked for RealOne as part of some
other program, and it took literally hours
to completely get rid of it (A tip, for
"removing" literally any self-protective
Windows program - Burn a Knoppix CD with an
NTFS-write enabled kernel, boot it, mount the
Windows partition in question, and rename the
directory of the offending program).
I will swallow my pride and admit I screwed up
in allowing it to install. But that
sort of irritation has lead to the anti-Real
zealotry you see in Slashdotters today... A
mere oversight during installing a seemingly
unrelated product, and I lost a few hours of
my all-too-rare free time.
Whats with all the personal angst? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you don't like a type of food, do you go on a personal crusade to ensure no one ever eats it ever again? Probably not.
If you don't like Real's business strategy, DON'T USE IT. I personally don't like the real player, never have, probably never will. I do, however, use Rhapsody and I think it's a fantastic service for the price. But that's off topic.
The real question is why Real (or any other company for that
Re:Whats with all the personal angst? (Score:4, Insightful)
If you don't like Real's business strategy, DON'T USE IT.
Overall, I agree with your point. However (always a however, or I wouldn't have responded)...
Many Slashdotters get to deal with not only the consequences of their own software, but with the choices of non-geek family and friends.
I have no problem saying, "I will never make the mistake of installing another Real product on my computer". I know better. I realize how invasively their products behave, the poor quality of their media formats (until they went to basically pure MPEG-4 for everything), the legendarily-pathetic streaming problems (what, they never heard of "let me buffer the whole damned thing while I get a snack, before starting to play"?).
OTOH, every time I visit a friend or relative, they want me to make Real go away. I ask why they reinstalled it, and the answer inevitably either involves "the kids did it" or "the website told me I had to". So, not having installed it myself, I still have to deal with it. That irks me, just a tad.
Incidentally, sometimes even we geeks can make mistakes. I (presume I) accidentally left a checkbox ticked for RealOne as part of some other program, and it took literally hours to completely get rid of it (A tip, for "removing" literally any self-protective Windows program - Burn a Knoppix CD with an NTFS-write enabled kernel, boot it, mount the Windows partition in question, and rename the directory of the offending program).
I will swallow my pride and admit I screwed up in allowing it to install. But that sort of irritation has lead to the anti-Real zealotry you see in Slashdotters today... A mere oversight during installing a seemingly unrelated product, and I lost a few hours of my all-too-rare free time.