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CNET: Will iPod suffer fate of the Mac?

updated 04:30 pm EDT, Thu April 15, 2004

CNET: Apple/Real/iPod

Apple Computer's apparent cold shoulder to RealNetworks this week has once again put the company's "" strategy in the spotlight, reports CNET News.com. RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser and some others see the potential for history to repeat itself in the digital music world if Apple persists in keeping its software and hardware closed. Glaser recently quipped that Apple might "go the way of the Soviet Union" unless it takes a more liberal stance toward licensing its software, specifically the FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) controls that prevent songs purchased through iTunes from being illegally copied. Analysts don't expect Apple to partner with Real or to license out its core technology anytime soon.

by MacNN Staff

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t_hah
Mac Elite

Joined: Dec 2000

0

04/15, 04:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
Let's hope that

the analysts are wrong. Apple should partner up with someone...pretty soon it will be WMA against AAC once again. How many players can play AAC files again? Not too many.

Apple needs to think ahead! It should not be about current profits when the market is favoring Apple, it should be about the future, to make sure that they will favor Apple.

Apple be smart, partner up!

MacnTX
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 2004

0

04/15, 04:50pm | report spam | close Reply |
They Already Have

They've partnered up with HP and they have said they will consider future partnerships as well so they aren't "going it alone" at all. They're just not going in partnerships with a company like Real and a CEO like Glaser that have very little to offer Apple in return.

z10n
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2003

0

04/15, 05:11pm | report spam | close Reply |
Welcome to...

the CNET FUD Machine. Please watch your step, and don't trip over any of the Apple Will Be Bankrupt Soon analysts lying dead on the floor of the vehicle.

chuckeroo
Junior Member

Joined: Apr 2001

0

04/15, 05:13pm | report spam | close Reply |
Ignore this whole story

Cnet is no longer (if they ever were) a real news outlet, but
a wholly controlled pro-Microsoft, anti-Apple
propoganda machine. Don't listen to anything they
say. It is ridiculous first that they assume that
Apple has given them the cold shoulder, as they
haven't even issued a real response yet. Then, to
take it even further, to assume that the fate of
Apple in digital music rests on whether or not
they team up with the joke that RealNetworks has
become. It is obvious that Real is going out of
business and is looking to someone else to bail them
out. Yes, Microsoft will pose a threat when they
enter the arena, but whether or not Microsoft "teams up" with Real will have nothing to do with it. The
only thing Microsoft would gain is to finally
put Real out of it's Misery. This story is prime
example of just how far CNet's head is up their (or
someone else's a**).

Lint
Junior Member

Joined: May 1999

0

04/15, 05:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
Alas poor apple

Proudly going out of business for 20 years!

Nostromo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2001

0

04/15, 05:56pm | report spam | close Reply |
They have a point

Sorry folks, this time C|NET actually has a point. If Psycho Steve keeps FairPlay locked into the iTMS (and thus into the iPod), Microsoft's WMA crapware will be the only place for Real to turn to, and Joe WalMart will suck it up like a chocolate sundae.

Open it up, Steve, or get used to that 2%.

gwarana
Registered User

Joined: Apr 2004

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04/15, 06:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: They Already Have

They're just not going in partnerships with a company like Real and a CEO like Glaser that have very little to offer Apple in return.

What Real has to offer Apple is money. It's not like they're asking Apple to license FairPlay for free.

Nostromo: Open it up, Steve, or get used to that 2%.

Oh! But didn't you read the Apple vs. Dell debate last week? We *want* a low market share so we can be stuck-up elite snobs who are rrrrich enough to buy Macs! If *everyone* had a Mac, then we wouldn't be able to brag to everyone about how much better we are than them!

jasonbw
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Joined: May 2000

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04/15, 06:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
gee, an negative story

from news.com....whoda thunk it?

i like slashdot's title better:

Real Begs Apple for Alliance

Deckard
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2000

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04/15, 07:21pm | report spam | close Reply |
I have to agree

Apple does need to license their FairPlay DRM so it can be used on other players, or I fear we will see history repeat itself once again. If they do it right, they can still make money and not cannibalize iPod sales. It's still the best player on the market.

Will Apple be arrogant just like they were in the 80's when Windows sucked badly and everyone wanted to license the Mac OS, or will they learn from past mistakes and do the smart thing this time with iTunes/FairPlay/ACC? I hope they are smart, but something tells me ol' Steve Jobs still doesn't get it.

scotty321
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Joined: Nov 1999

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04/15, 07:50pm | report spam | close Reply |
Steve Jobs is an IDIOT!

Steve Jobs hasn't learned from ANY of the hundreds of mistakes he's made with Apple Computer, and he's about to go down the SAME EXACT ROAD all over again! STEVE -- OPEN UP THE DAMN IPOD!! YOU'RE THE BIGGEST CONCEITED MORON THE FACE OF THE PLANET!

JeffHarris
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 1999

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04/15, 08:11pm | report spam | close Reply |
C'mon, Steve!

Apple DOES need to license the AAC/Fairplay format. They've partnered with HP. Why not license the basic iTMS file formats? And why not to Real (whether they suck or not)?

Microsoft wants to rule the known universe and I can imagine how it irks Gates & Co. that Apple has trumped them AGAIN. As we all know, quality doesn't necessarily win. It's quantity. Microsoft has the mass and money to bulldoze the iTMS into oblivion. It will NOT happen overnight, as we saw with the Macintosh, but eventually it WILL happen if Apple tries to go it alone again.

If Apple can manage to leverage the iPod/iTMS/AAC to make a few more strategic alliances, they'll have an excellent chance to STAY in the lead.

Of course as someone mentioned before, this is based on a speculative article from a highly anti-Apple biased "news" outlet. We shall see.

LouZer
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2000

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04/15, 10:36pm | report spam | close Reply |
Same fate as the mac

Hmmm, you mean a product that'll be around in 20 years. Gee, they should be lucky it has the same fate.

bashar
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2000

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04/16, 01:15am | report spam | close Reply |
WMA

well, it seems microsoft is much smarter here, yesterday, i went to buy a new car stereo, and guess what?! the CD player does WMA, same for some new entertainment system, on the long run the ipod will loose and we will loose that way, just because steve is a jerk........

kw99
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2001

0

04/16, 03:43am | report spam | close Reply |
Yeah, like IBM has...

profitted hugely from inventing the "PC-compatible" and making it "open." It's Microsoft that profitted mightily and I don't see Windows being opened up to the competition anytime soon.

I say Apple should not pander to desperate companies like Real. It should partner with companies like HP that bring something meaningful to the bargaining table, not meaningless threats. Now if Microsoft wants to license FairPlay and use AAC (instead of WMA), then Apple should take notice...

It's too early in the game for Apple to be making decisions that will affect the course of iPods and iTMS.

As long as Apple is continuing to INCREASE market share for the iPod and iTMS, it should stay the course. You can't talk about "history repeating" when the current trend in the opposite direction. Once Apple market share increase in player and download service levels off, then Apple is in the position to better evaluate what it should and should not do in terms of opening it's DRM and player. By then, Real will probably be the one repeating history... of Amiga.

jerryfrit
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Joined: Feb 2004

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04/16, 09:17am | report spam | close Reply |
But partner with Glaser?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but, if memory serves, Glaser was the one who released the snide "open letter to Steve" when iTMS was launched, which basically said "Thanks again, Apple, for creating a new market for us to take away from you."

Apple may need to broaden its horizons in terms of strategic partnerships (HP is a great start), but it doesn't follow that they must partner with Real, in order to prove they're not 'closed.'

ecrelin
Junior Member

Joined: Oct 2000

0

04/16, 09:21am | report spam | close Reply |
Idiots? Check your mirror

"Created in June 2000, Veridisc� is a digital rights management (DRM) company with a patent-pending DRM system."
That's right its called FairPlay, Apple is not part of the corporation, they are a licensee, Real and Microsoft could be license it too!
You're all snookered by Real and the M$ propaganda machine, you could get the facts or maybe you should all go buy PCs and live the rest of your lives in bliss.

ecrelin
Junior Member

Joined: Oct 2000

0

04/16, 09:36am | report spam | close Reply |
Oh I forgot ACC, dopes

"AAC was developed by the MPEG group that includes Dolby, Fraunhofer (FhG), AT&T, Sony, and Nokia�companies that have also been involved in the development of audio codecs such as MP3 and AC3 (also known as Dolby Digital)."
Does anyone of you geniuses see Apple Corp in that list? Huh do ya?
While M$ pays for SCO to try to damage Linux and UNIX and ex-M$er Glaser cries because after all these years his compression technology isn't the best so he's just an also ran, you guys suck up the SPIN!!!!!

TigerPRO
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Mar 2004

0

04/16, 10:11am | report spam | close Reply |
Jobs IS NOT an idiot!

This is the best report on this story I've seen. It would do you disloyal Apple fans some good. Take an open mind with you and read it:

http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/

gwarana
Registered User

Joined: Apr 2004

0

04/16, 10:17am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: Yeah, like IBM has...

profitted hugely from inventing the "PC-compatible" and making it "open." It's Microsoft that profitted mightily and I don't see Windows being opened up to the competition anytime soon.

Well, IBM didn't open their PC on purpose; Compaq found a loophole in the law that allowed them to reverse-engineer it. One person would take it apart and figure out how it worked, and make detailed notes describing how to make it. Then, a person completely unfamiliar with the work would meet with a lawyer and draw up a legal document stating they had absolutely no prior knowledge of how this "PC" was made -- and he'd take the detailed notes and build it. :)

Although, I guess one could say IBM's PC was "open" in the sense that the parts could be bought by anyone, in some cases right off the shelf at Radio Shack. And the reason Microsoft has profited so greatly from Windows is because they didn't, for example, say "We'll make this so it will ONLY run on IBM's PCs"... they made it able to run on *any* IBM-compatible PC.

testudo
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

04/16, 10:40am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: idiots

That's right its called FairPlay, Apple is not part of the corporation, they are a licensee, Real and Microsoft could be license it too!

Umm, you're making the assumption apple didn't negotiate the rights to the DRM itself when they licensed the tech for themselves (i.e. as such, they'd have the say, not the people who made it).

jonbwfc1
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2003

0

04/16, 10:47am | report spam | close Reply |
MP3 players

"How many players can play AAC files again? "
Wrong question. The question you should be asking is - how many people have players that can play AAC. Given sales of iPods compared to all the other models combined, I'd say the answer may well be 'most of them'. I doubt anybody else has sold just shy of a million players in the last quarter. Given this to be true, it doesn't matter that the iPod is the only player that can play AAC because, effectively, the iPod is the only player there is anyway.

The fact is in this case, the situation is not the same as it is with the computer market at all. In the computer market, Apple is a minority player. Always has been, always will be. In the MP3 player market, Apple is way out in the lead. The simple fact is they don't need to open up the iPod to play WMA files, because they are selling iPods as quickly as they can make them anyway. Apple is required to give away nothing, Especially not to someone who is running what is essentially a competitor of iTMS.

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CNET: Will iPod suffer fate of the Mac?

updated 04:30 pm EDT, Thu April 15, 2004

CNET: Apple/Real/iPod

Let's hope that

They Already Have

Welcome to...

Ignore this whole story

Alas poor apple

They have a point

re: They Already Have

gee, an negative story

I have to agree

Steve Jobs is an IDIOT!

C'mon, Steve!

Same fate as the mac

WMA

Yeah, like IBM has...

But partner with Glaser?

Idiots? Check your mirror

Oh I forgot ACC, dopes

Jobs IS NOT an idiot!

Re: Yeah, like IBM has...

Re: idiots

MP3 players

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CNET: Will iPod suffer fate of the Mac?

updated 04:30 pm EDT, Thu April 15, 2004

CNET: Apple/Real/iPod

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Recent Articles

Let's hope that

They Already Have

Welcome to...

Ignore this whole story

Alas poor apple

They have a point

re: They Already Have

gee, an negative story

I have to agree

Steve Jobs is an IDIOT!

C'mon, Steve!

Same fate as the mac

WMA

Yeah, like IBM has...

But partner with Glaser?

Idiots? Check your mirror

Oh I forgot ACC, dopes

Jobs IS NOT an idiot!

Re: Yeah, like IBM has...

Re: idiots

MP3 players

Login Here

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