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Real Feels iTunes Backlash

BunkAsInBed writes "CNET reports RealNetwork's recent campaign against the iTunes music network that involved tactics like slashing the costs of their downloads in half, reverse engineering Apple's FairPlay format (Harmony), and recently an online petition and bulliten board have received the opposite reponse that was anticpated."

17 of 965 comments (clear)

  1. first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    eee

  2. Vendor lock-in mentality? by garcia · · Score: 0, Troll

    The next step--a campaign and petition to get music fans to support the company's open stance--hasn't worked out quite as it might have hoped, after some people besieged the petition with obscenities and anti-RealNetworks postings.
    The petition, on RealNetworks' www.freedomofmusicchoice.org site, is entitled: "Hey Apple! Don't break my iPod."


    Now while I understand the zealotry and the hatred for someone daring to stomp on Apple's parade I can't understand the "break my iPod" bit. If anything they have "fixed" the fucking iPod allowing it to play even more formats.

    Now, now, all you iPod fans are going to jump down my throat about Real's shitty codecs and how Apple's non-sense is so much better... I just can't agree with you. I haven't heard Real's code but I have heard 100s of samples of Apple's *and* 35 full length tracks. Apple's codec sucks compared to even MP3 and I won't even get into what they sound like compared to FLAC/SHN. Granted, you are paying less than the average CD in a store but I can certainly hear the difference. I don't know if I would be so inclined to support any more artists that sell their music there. I'll continue to stick to SHN/FLAC encoded music distributed by the fans of the same bands.

    This sounds a lot like what happened with the Katie.com bullshit. People flooding Amazon with bad reviews, trolls, and downgraded marks. They were successful in getting the name changed... Do the Apple zealots think that this is the best way to approach this? Personally, I think that the Appleaters should be thrilled that more codecs could come to their beloved device. Perhaps these Apple lovers have become so accustomed to vendor lock-in that they don't want any competition in the codecs available for this device?

    I guess you'd have to ask an iPod user.

  3. Duh by kenp2002 · · Score: 0, Troll



    Real neglected to realize that Mac people are a cult like scientology and the Golden Dawn before them. Cultist get rather pissy like the Transcidental Movement did and while the Mac types try to spiritually levitate while praying to the unnamed spirit guides while pondering astral travel as they launder money by buying parish members $120k cars tax free in Hollywood . They obviously would follow their personal God Jobs commandments all the way to the comet's tail and a new dawn where computer are not mesured by performance and reliabilty but rather by how fruits and pretty they are. Let us pray and ascend beyond the constraints the Demi-Urge has place upon as and reach spiritual purity while crying that the infidel M$ hasn't ported a newer version of office for our perfect OS and condemn the bastards at Real for doing what their God Steve did to Xerox.. Ohh wait.. STRIKE THAT SENTENCE FROM YOU MIND OUR LORD GOD JOBS COMMANDS IT!!

    Did that make any sense? Neither to Macs. :)

    Best Mac cult sticker: Mac is a console game that plays adobe products!!

    Aww we love you Mac your just too cute to hate... All.. hail... Wozniack...... Hail to .. the ... king.............. baby....

    --
    -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
  4. Bash help needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I need to add some code to a config file to detect if a dir is nfs mounted or not, then source a file if it is. Can this be done in a few lines of bash?

  5. I like the real service by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    Apple and Steve Jobs are dying: Sell stock now.

    Apple Computer, Inc. (AAPL), beset by angry creditors and faced with severe G5 production problems, is on the verge of bankruptcy and total collapse. Apple continues to nosedive into oblivion, as confirmed by industry watchers, investors, and, most painfully, by customers themselves.

    As a recent study by Bank of America Securities puts it, Apple ekes out its small existence by peddling new hardware to its existing customers; once those customers are satisfied, Apple will run out of steam . If these disastrous financial forecasts aren't enough, one need only look to Netcraft for confirmation that Apple's market share among Web servers is slowly dwindling down to zero. The market share of Mac OS X is now eclipsed even by that of FreeBSD, another OS that is deeply imperiled.

    But the abysmal server presence of OS X is the least of Apple's worries. Apple's most recent quarterly report indicates a death spiral of cash loss. Indeed, Apple has hemorrhaged some $276 million in the last quarter, while racking up a dizzying $2.4 billion in debt. Revenue from sales of the iPod, the portable music player that is barely keeping Apple afloat in this shipwreck of fiscal woe, declined dramatically, threatening to shrink further an already miniscule lifeline.

    Likewise, sales of the eMac, iMac and Power Macintosh G5 lines continue to skid. Apple is unable to secure G5 processors in sufficient numbers to supply its customers with Power Macintosh G5 and iMac computers, as Steve Jobs himself recently admitted, sending Apple stock into a deadly tailspin. The staggering decline in sales numbers confirms it: there is no doubt that one-time Apple customers, dismayed with the floundering ineptitude of their favorite company, have begun turning away in droves, seeking cheaper, faster hardware from manufacturers such as Dell.

    Apple teeters on the precipice of doom, one step away from plummeting to its ultimate nadir of bankruptcy, chaos, and implosion. And with the crushing recent news that Steve Jobs has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, the forthcoming leadership vacuum and low morale at Apple will only hasten the inevitable. Wise investors will quickly dump AAPL stock and abandon the doomed company, now less than one year away from complete disintegration.

    It's time to move to a new platform: Apple is dead.

    --
    Brought to you by the Trolliterati

  6. FUK REAL! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    http://www.petitiononline.com/notreal/petition.htm l

    The Anti-Real petition has twice as many sigs as Real's "grassroots" campaign!

    Screw U Real!

  7. Re:Another lesson -brand image is important. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    A good brand image (Apple)
    Eh, as long as you don't think all Mac/iPod users are ghey...
  8. Why is everyone against REAL in this by fozzmeister · · Score: 1, Troll

    Sure in the past they have been pretty crappy, but its cheaper and the files themselves are better quality, It's just religious Mac users.

    I wonder if Mac users take offence at clone inket refills in the same way, or buy genuine Epson, HP or Lexmark cartridges. It really is exactly the same thing.

  9. apple fans are dumb and rich by js3 · · Score: 0, Troll

    that's where there are only 5% of them

    --
    did you forget to take your meds?
  10. what do you expect from rabid by Archfeld · · Score: 0, Troll

    apple fans who in the face of facts prefer manufactured "I switched propaganda" I would not be in the least suprised to find out many of these so-called fans were in fact apple employees posting under false names. While the same people scream hysterically about M$ and other vendors, if apple pulls a boner, and they DO, the apple fanboy club is busy screaming its a feature....

    The road goes both ways and apple is no more our friend than MS or HP is. They all want your money, and would like to ensure they can get it in the future in any way they can. Morals are foreign to a corporation.

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  11. Perspective is skewed.. by Archfeld · · Score: 0, Troll

    Apple is a good brand ?!?! Err if you are a fanboy, otherwise they are a hugely proprietary, offensive company that regularly sues and threatens there own support base and customers.

    Now they DO make some SOLID hardware, and have a decent return to the community policy, but they are proprietary software on a proprietary hardware platform, and even more closed than M$.
    Note : I don't really like either company, they've both gotten greedy and think they DESERVE to make a profit rather than have to work at it. Neither entity is above utilizing the DMCA or any ohter method to ensure there continued profit, at anyone elses expense...Corporations and MORALS are mutually exclusive...

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
    1. Re:Perspective is skewed.. by slipstick · · Score: 0, Troll

      Not trying to be negative, but is the base system & kernel open sourced from Apple or didn't Apple take somebody else's work and lock it down?

      In other words I have the understanding that Apple took FreeBSD which is somebodyelses hard work and added their own stuff on top without releasing the stuff on top or how it interacts with the stuff provided by FreeBSD, or any changes they might have made to FreeBSD to make it better.

      While this is certainly valid given the license of FreeBSD, strictly speaking that's just being a thief as far as I'm concerned.(Yes I know MS has done this too with it's Unix Services layer).

      I also understand however, that Apple has given some changes back to the KDE community for the web browser, locking up other changes however behind a proprietary license. In other words it looks to me like Apple is trying to garner some favor while stealing the "open source" community blind.

      I know where from Microsoft comes from, they don't even attempt to curry favor so at least it's obvious they can be "hated". But Apple is trying to play the "get away come closer" game which I detest even more than the "piss off I don't like you" one. With the latter I pay no attention, with the former I waste time looking to see if it's actually any good before I find out all the really good stuff is off limits.

      Anyway, this is just the impression I get, I could easily be wrong.

      --
      Sure information wants to be free, but how much are you willing to pay for the packaging?
  12. In Soviet Russia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    iTunes Backlash feels Real!

    Sorry. had to be said.

    -5 redundant

  13. At least Real Supports linux, Mac's iTunes won't. by sir+lox+elroy · · Score: 0, Troll

    Mac's iTunes won't run on linux unless I buy third party software. Apple says they support OpenSource, well why don't they release some of their apps for other OS's than just Mac, Or is Apple only OpenSource if you buy all your stuff from them? Like I said at the begining Real Supports Linux, Apple Doesn't, that makes my decision easy.

    --
    Kosh: "Understanding is a 3 edged sword, your side, their side, the Truth."
  14. Re:You got the quote wrong by stor · · Score: 0, Troll

    Apple rarely fucks anyone over.

    Except their customers of course.

    Cheers
    Stor

    --
    "Yeah well there's a lot of stuff that should be, but isn't"
  15. Re:Another lesson -brand image is important. by umpa · · Score: 0, Troll
    Their free player is also crippled beyond repair. You can't save streams unless you buy their software, and that is complete bullshit.

    So you want to download their player and be able to do everything possible? They should give it to you for free?

    How do they make money then?

    Don't want them to make money? Don't buy anything.

    Quit bein' fuckin' pissed off that no one will give you want you want for free. Write the damned thing yourself.

    I mean, what board do you think you're on, anyway?

  16. Macs Users are are all fags.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    but we knew this anyway...