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He's such a whiner. Do something about it if you don't like it. Real will be bankrupt and close shop in 3 years

All the bad mouthing you hear from Rob Glaser of Real and Chris Gorog of Napster directed toward Steve Jobs and Apple (and iPod customers from Gorog) says something.

Desperation.

Apple is at 300-million downloads and counting. NO ONE is divulging download numbers from other music services (too embarrassing?). Since the market has figured out a good reason to buy from Real or Napster in big numbers, the execs feel they'll get some press (and free advertising) by slamming the big dawg; Apple, Jobs, iTunes.

It'll work.

They'll get some business from that subscription model and from the bad mouthing. The real issue is "how much" business will they get. Enough to become profitable and take a chunk out of Apple's hide?

Probably not.

Regardless, I'm sure that both Real and Napster do NOT want Apple to provide an option to rent music (subscription model), which I'm sure Apple could do if the market requires.

How long would it take the iTunes Music Store to become the world's largest subscription service? A week? I'd try it with iTMS though I won't bother with Napster To Gouge.

Even the record company execs are smart enough to know it's better for a customer to pay Apple 99-cents and then burn the song on a few CDs for friends because they still get 99-cents for the song. With Napster, one need only pay the first month (or nothing for the trial offer) and a customer could burn night and day and the record companies get nothing.

The other issue for the recording companies is, "how big does Apple get and what does it mean?"

Tera Patricks
Mac360

MDN: please re-post a link to the caption contest.

Could we perhaps make this a weekly feature? Best caption - either by votes, or by MDN judges - wins an iTMS gift certificate.

I suggest we start with a picture of Enderle (of the vaunted Enderle Group) and see who can come up with the best 'natural disaster' caption.

mike k. (CEO of the mike k. Group)

"It doesn't say anywhere that you have to go through 57 different hoops to play a song on a different device."

Umm, it also doesn't say that unicorns staff the Apple tech support line, because that's not true either.

Hoop 1: Burn a CD in iTunes.
Hoop 2: Rip CD to WMA-formatted files.
Hoop 3: Copy WMA files to off-brand Wintel Plays-For-Shit device.
Hoops 4-57: ???

Oh, and Rob: I'm looking at the same hoops if I buy songs on Napster or MSN and want to play them on my iPod. Might be nice to acknowledge that. Or pout like an eight-year-old. That's always impressive in a CEO.

Only thing can explain Real and Napster's attitudes.

They're brain dead.

hes got his head so far up his arse he doesnt know whats going on

How is Real still in business? It's rotten everywhere you look, yet still remains. Why?

hmmm, what's this unlimited burn to cd thing? my iTunes just told me 7 times to CD is the limit. not that I care, I can rip my backup back on to another comp if I so desire.

'The day that they introduce subscriptions is the day that Steve Jobs has the brilliant revelation that subscriptions are a good thing,' Glaser said."

Don't remind SJ for that, he might do it and then you Mr. Glaser are out of business.

Wow - went and read that article (actually, there are several posts) at jogin.com.

Fascinating reading, for sure, and makes me glad that I have a Mac - I only have the free player, and I'm very glad that Real can't insert itself into my machine nearly as insidiously as it can into a pc. After all, there are those few and far-between times when a site unfortunately only provides content for Realplayer, and nothing else. I avoid it otherwise, at all costs.

dellMeAgain, try changing a song on the playlist and get another seven burns. If you would have read the terms, you can burn individual [B]playlists[/B] of DRM'd music seven times. Don't spread FUD.

Not explicitly Ron?

From the iTunes Help Center:

iTunes works with several music players, but songs purchased on the iTunes Music Store only play on iPod.(emphasis mine) For information on which players are compatible with iTunes, see this article on the Apple Support website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93548.

Seems pretty explicit to me!

Oh, and dellMeAgain, that's 7 burns per unmodified playlist.

See, kids, Reading Is Fundamental!!!

Magic Word: ever. Will Rob Glazer ever get a clue?

notatotalsucker,

For the same reason Microsoft is still around: some things are so evil that they simply refuse to die. Either that, or someone with very deep pockets is continuing to funnel money into Real to keep it afloat.

MDN, love the 'parody photo illustration'. When I saw it, I nearly blew beverage all over my monitor. Guess I shouldn't drink and surf at the same time...

dellMeAgain,

You can only burn the same play list 7 times. Switch a song or two around and continue to reburn to CD. The feature is designed to slow down your ability to burn CDs.

Love the donut photoshop picture. God he is a swollen freak.

What simply amazes me is how simple it could be for these other music services to really market themselves as "iPod Friendly". It's so simple, really. "Buy our songs for 99¢(89¢/79¢, whatever), and use our built-in burning software to burn a personal copy of your music (smart to do this for backup purposes, too), then import the songs into iTunes and upload to your iPod."

Maybe instead of fighting against the iPodTsunami, some of these music download services should learn how to ride a surfboard with style.

Of course, the irony is that they will never do such a thing. Glazer, Gorog, Gates and co. will never see that they are never going to out sell or out class Apple, the iPod, the iTunes Music Store, or Fairplay.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93377

"iTunes for Windows can transfer a variety of audio and music files to iPod, including MP3 and AAC encoded files. Other MP3 players do not work with iTunes for Windows."

I actually saw a cassette tape for sale in a store the other day. I thought about buying it just for nostalgia sake. But I didn't and when I got home, I realized that it wouldn't play on my my wind up wristwatch because the battery isn't Y2K compliant.
I'm seriously considering litigation against Real for all of these incompatibilities.

actually
Glaser is just about as intellegent as the guy in this video

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/sovereignty.mov

Actually, I'd rather have the guy in "frankly speaking's" video link above than one who lies straight out with ease:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/multimedia/clintondenial.mov

Back to Glaser: Have another Krispy Kreme, big boy!

I guess that means I didn't have sexual relations with your mom...

enough of the politics...

These people make me sick. Stop complaining about the competition all the time and do something about it. Get off your fat butt and work and stop being so damned lazy.

frankly speaking,

Wrong place. Off topic. Take it somewhere else, man. This is about BF Rob Glaser and his ongoing stupidity, not about your meaningless rabid personal politics.

MDN Magic Word: "Values"

UFB, MDN!

He's the CEO of Real Networks...a company that was innovating during the "dial-up revolution."

What do you expect from the leader of a company that can't make a viable product?

Intellegnece?

WoooooohOOOOOOO!! More Glaser Goodness...

Let's see.. they reverse engineer Fairplay so that Harmony tracks work on the best music player out there, the iPod line.

Now here's the deceptive part.. IMPLYING THAT THEIR HACK IS LEGITIMATE.

Is anyone still talking about Harmony?! Why not? Probably because it was directed at the 'hoardes' of iPod owners who were so dissatisfied with the iTMS that they wanted access to the RealNetworks roach motel.

In other words... nobody showed up.

Which also explains why nobody is whining about being 'screwed' by Apple, when Apple put a stop to that, through iPod updates.

This is hilarious... I imagine Glaser talking to the media is preceded by, "And you are...?"
"Rob Glaser"
"..."
"RealNetworks"
"..."
"I'm hear for a story on Apple"
"Oh Great, let's get started..!"

Y'know what I love? How, to Glaser, it's "Us vs. Apple!" While to Gorog, it's also "Us vs. Apple!" Ever notice the conspicuous absense of Napster in any Real discussion and vice versa?

News flash guys: you're competing against each other. You can focus on Apple all you like, the fact remains that the WMA services will cannibalize each other's businesses first before they take any market share from Apple. Will Napster provide a serious threat to Apple? Perhaps. Will Real? Maybe. But one thing is certain: it will only be one or the other.

I have but a few words for Glaser and Napster....

G* F*** Yourself!

LordRobin. . . i couldn't agree more. napster and real aren't looking at the whole picture. they should be going after each other and not apple. if done right, controlling 10% of the download market could work out for which ever company comes up with the best windows based interface and partners with or produces it's own player. analysts are talking apple down to slow growth plane and simple. competitors wish apple ill will because they're hoping for a mistep that will give them a lead (keep hoping). what creative should do is buy napster. real should partner with samsung and create a player not rebrand one like dell. dell now produces in that "look what i can do" (stewie of madtv emphasis)mentality by commoditizing and continual rebranding. i wouldn't doubt that over the next 3 years you'll begin to see players in the market move into one of these directions.

The picture is hilarious.

Is Real still in business?

Still got some VC money left?

Wow...

Is there a connection between Rob and 'Jabba the Hutt'

I think we should be told.

Seriously, Glaser's comments about Apple offering a subscription service clearly shows how much of an idiot he is. If I were him, the LAST thing I would do would be to "encourage" the competition to get into my business! If Apple were to offer a subscription service to the iTMS, the death of Real (and Napster) would only be ACCELERATED. Since almost everyone has an iPod anyway, that would be even more incentive for people to get one, therefore bypassing Real, Napster, and the other also-rans.

Now that I think about it, Steve should add subscription services to iTMS , if only out of spite. That would be cool. Kill Real and Napster quicker.

Like a bunch of 2nd graders.

You know, that's not very nice to ANYONE.

How about focussing on his statements and not his appearance?

Because it's actually OK not to be a supermodel.

i think real player is far better than any other player

As far as celebrity endorsements, I don't know who the hell Andrew Cooper is, but whoever he is, he's laughing all the way to the bank...

how much did they pay you to say that, AC?

this is my last visit to MDN. there are three reasons.

the MDN take. in general it is over the top and spiteful. think they'd rather spit in the face of anyone who talks about apple rather than actually listen to critism/other opinions.

the comments. this article is a good example of that. comparing the CEO to jabba the hut? if i wanted to read that stuff i'd go to slashdot.

the pop-ups. i do not like pop ups. that is why i block them. MDN doesn't care, apparently. that's fine. but to add icing to the cake, comments about the pop-ups are deleted. such a fine demonstration of 1st amendment rights, i tell you. (btw i do expect this one to be deleted as well) if i wanted things done to my computer without my permission i'd use windows. i expected better from a mac site. (like macslash, who i applaud for their stance)

farewell, MDN.

ha!,

The MDN Take is "spiteful?" Please elaborate.

Then go to /. By the way, Glaser is a fat fsck who can't even manage his own calorie count, much less a company.

Perhaps you missed this:

MacDailyNews, "2/22. 10:25pm ET: We are currently testing various pop-under ad codes. We have now been in contact with Fastclick and there is a way for our users who do not wish to accept pop-unders to opt out. Users who wish to opt-out of pop-under and other Fastclick ad network ads may do so by installing the Fastclick Opt-Out Cookie. If you choose to install this cookie, please consider buying any songs you wish via iTunes by launching iTunes via our left side column to launch iTunes or please consider patronizing our other sponsors via banner and text ads (such as Other World Computing, MacService, PowerMax, The Apple Store, The Apple iTunes Music Store, and others) as MacDailyNews will be unable to derive any Fastclick revenue from your visits. MacDailyNews is an ad-supported site and Fastclick is a major component of this site's revenue and helps greatly in offsetting our operational costs. Thank you."

The link to the MDN article

Time to start hammering the "beleaguered" moniker around Real at every opportunity. Get it into the common mindset.

Rule #16 from "Avoiding Posting Idiocy":

"If you choose to leave a bulletin board or posting forum for any reason other than health issues-- just LEAVE-- DO NOT anounce it or use your exit to launch some personal diatribe. No one cares. If you have a better idea for a forum-- launch one yourself."

What's he holding there on the picture? Is he marketing donut implants now?

Hmmm... and Microsoft's "PlaysForSure" campaign is not deceptive? As well as Real's own "Freedom of Choice" propaganda trip of last year? Neither one delivers choice to the consumer because it's all tied to a single platform; Windows! That is not what I would consider choice!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Man is that guy butt ugly.

Thanks for the retina damage MDN. I'll never eat another donut.

MDN has reached a new nadir. Putting up a faked photo of Glaser (even with super-tiny type indicating it is a parody) reaches depths to which only the weakest fall. The site has completely become juvenile, base, and punitive.

Poke fun at Glaser's business antics (and Steve Jobs, too). But basing your humor on physical attributes is for the mentally challenged. I don't like Glaser, either. But I doubt anyone with credibility would stoop so low so publicly.

zupchuck,

Lighten up, dude. It's a long-running joke about Glaser and Krispy Kremes here. Learn to chuckle, will ya?

Is that guy on Lost who seems to get fatter every episode glaser's kid?

I agree with Zupchuck about the doctored photo, I struggle endlessly with my weight and MDN's adolescent comments have absolutely nothing to do with the article.

In terms of any sort of quality, MDN is going down the crapper faster than Microsoft. MDN's solution to their intentional pop-ups/unders is exactly the same as Microsofts; YOU fix it!! They think that by forcing you to install additional software to prevent THEIR intrusion is a solution, and MDN even has an air of righteousness when they tell you how to fix it as if they had nothing to do with it. It's like someone stabbing you and then handing you a bandage; "See how good we are, we are helping you fix it!"

Like the many many others that have posted their distain, I am sure this will be erased.

All MDN has to do is stop the pop-ups and be a bit more mature, but after all of this advice from so many for so long, MDN STILL REFUSES to do anything. What total pricks... EXACTLY LIKE MICROSOFT!!!!

(If MDN is so offended by being called names, then why do you do it to others?!!!!!)

prut prut: I think Ha! is doing MDN a favor by posting his/her reasons for being unhappy with the site. It gives MDN a chance to think about it and decide if they want to do anything about it. Sure they could have sent an email to the webmaster, but by posting it in the forums, it gives everyone a chance to think about it and respond, which I think is the purpose of an online public forum.

Now, with regards to Ha!'s comments, I do think that MDN's credibility as a news site has slipped considerably since I first started coming here. If it slips too much further, they might have to consider changing the site's name to MacDailyEditorial. At first I thought the picture of Glaser with the doughnuts was funny, but now that I think about it, it's quite insensitive to readers who might have a weight problem. Rob Glaser is a big enough idiot that it should be easy to make fun of him without using his weight.

As for the popups, I haven't been able to figure out why I only get them on my PowerMac at home, and not on my PowerBook. I never installed the opt-out cookie, I'm just thankful it only happens on one of my Macs and not both. I really do think that MDN should look at getting a different ad hosting company though. With the number of unhappy posts, they may very well be losing customers. For all of you posters who are happy to remind people about the MDN story about the pop-unders, thanks for that, but maybe people don't think they should have to manually install a cookie on their computer to opt-out of pop-up/pop-under ads. Maybe instead, it should be an opt-in, or better yet, forget about pop-up/pop-unders altogether BECAUSE NOBODY CLICKS ON THEM AND EVERYBODY HATES THEM.

my 2¢ is worth as much as yours or anyone elses

Andy C., I agree 100%!!!

I think Zapchuck and Andy have it 100% correct. In fact I think this will be my last post and visit to MDN. I just so tired of wading through the BS and attitude.

BYE!!

For all of those who continue to whine and may have missed this:

MacDailyNews, "2/22. 10:25pm ET: We are currently testing various pop-under ad codes. We have now been in contact with Fastclick and there is a way for our users who do not wish to accept pop-unders to opt out. Users who wish to opt-out of pop-under and other Fastclick ad network ads may do so by installing the Fastclick Opt-Out Cookie. If you choose to install this cookie, please consider buying any songs you wish via iTunes by launching iTunes via our left side column to launch iTunes or please consider patronizing our other sponsors via banner and text ads (such as Other World Computing, MacService, PowerMax, The Apple Store, The Apple iTunes Music Store, and others) as MacDailyNews will be unable to derive any Fastclick revenue from your visits. MacDailyNews is an ad-supported site and Fastclick is a major component of this site's revenue and helps greatly in offsetting our operational costs. Thank you."

The link to the MDN article

I'll take one pop-under ad a day - it costs me nothing and I get a fun site that's not staid and boring like MacCentral and most of the rest. Thanks, MDN.

BTW: Pop-under advertising is the most successful format in terms of revenue and click-thrus, so obviously, not everybody hates them. Isn't the goal of advertising to get the message through and cut through the clutter? What good is a boring ad format that never gets clicked or seen? You whiners need to relax - one pop-under a day is a cheap price (free) to "pay" for a site that is religiously updated (even on the weekends!) and fun! Just my 2-cents.

I, for one, am happy to accept a pop-under per day for this site. It's fine with me, MDN! Keep up the good work! Love the photo illustration, too!

whats the point of popups if no one vists the site?

ps. im big too (and quite depressed about it) and think that MDN was VERY insulting. i didnt realize that you had to be thin to use a Mac. MDN staff are such a--holes. oh, did i hurt someones feelings? TOO BAD!!!