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NPR Drops QuickTime Support

Posted by pudge on from the just-send-raw-pcm-data dept.

Magnetic Confinement writes "NPR has decided to drop QuickTime from its available streams. Their help desk response is: 'NPR.org had been offering some of its audio in the Apple QuickTime format under an arrangement with Apple QuickTime. We regret that we were unable to reach mutually acceptable terms for a new arrangement with Apple QuickTime. As a result, NPR is unable to continue offering its content in this format."

4 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. Read: WE WANT A PAYOFF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting
    In the fine tradition of Dick Clark, NPR must actually want Apple to pay THEM money for using Quicktime. Since you can get the QTSS for FREE, and even if you don't want to pay for OSX (or osx server) you can run it on the FREE Darwin setup.

    You can't really do better than "Free", so they must want Apple to pay them extra $$$.

  2. Audio? or Video? by foniksonik · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I still don't get why National Public Radio is using Video formats for audio streams... why not just use some freakin' MP3? This is national and public right? Does it really need to be DRM'd?

    Again... what is so hard about offering an mp3 stream? Then everyone could listen to it with any player they want.

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
  3. They offered Quicktime? by Silverhammer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I didn't even know they offered a Quicktime stream. Everything on their Web site is done with RealAudio...

  4. NPR's bizarre business practices continue... by nycroft · · Score: 2, Interesting

    NPR has a strange history of alienating people. For example, a snippet on Cory Doctorow's site boingboing from last June, then featured on TechTV's The Screensavers, told a strange story of NPR not allowing people to place an NPR link on their web site:

    Examples of such "inappropriate" links include "certain kinds of commercial linking," [an NPR spokesperson] said.

    "For example, if Salon.com writes a story about NPR and links to us, that would be fine," because the online magazine wouldn't be using the NPR link for its commercial benefit. "But what wouldn't be fine is if someone sets up a business to link to us and profit from that" -- for example, if someone sets up an online "radio station" whose main content was NPR's programs.

    Pretty weird, huh? How exactly would anyone see any "commercial benefit" from letting their readers link to NPR? By that definition, ANYONE could be suspect of profiting from the link.

    Wake up, NPR. Now Quicktime? Do you you all just hate the world?

    --
    Mr. Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time is enemy action.