Interview with Dan Sheeran, Realnetworks
Interesting interview. Dan (whom I've met a couple of times) comes at things with a bias (me too!), but his opinions are interesting (mine too?)
http://www.insidedigitalmedia.com/downloads/realsan2.mp3
Realnetworks appears to be trying to come in and compete with Playsforsure with RhapsodyDNA for device partners
It'll be interesting to see how they do...
5 Comments:
Well...while it is interesting I feel it is ultimately a failed crusade on Real's part. Think about it, they know they're not competing for first, but instead are now competing for last...
Not a good way to start out.
That's awfully disingenuous. I'd say it's more that Real can see the obvious implications of Zune (i.e., that PlaysForSure is a doomed program, and that Microsoft will give it the most minimal attention possible going forward) and is desperately grasping at some possible alternative strategy.
Nobody can possibly think that a custom DRM solution from a minor company is really a workable solution here in 2006. But if you're a minor company, and the only licenseable DRM platform just got chumped up, what else can you do?
You obviously don't know Rob Glaser. He's a pretty ambitious fellow.
p4s will continue to get support as a spec for devices and services to work with Windows. The program continues, the logos continue...
Rob *is* trying to capitalize on exactly the perception you're mentioning to get partners. And he's got plenty of cash to throw around...
The only problem is, from experience, Rhapsody is a crappy piece of software. Not to come off in a childish way but I've wasted at least $45 in subscription fees to that company trying to get a solid experience on the now defunct dell dj. Real's customer service line should know me by first name. I'd never touch a real music service again. I wish them good luck. That's all I can say.
David: I'm sure the Real folks are as aggressive as hell (and since my memory isn't short, I know they're capable of pure 100% evil -- ah, RealPlayer!). But even if they were saints, driven solely by raw altruism, they'd have to be coming up with an alternate plan now.
As Mr. Unit is saying below (and as I know firsthand, having had an XP MCE upgrade break Yahoo Unlimited for a month), the current state of P4S is pretty rough. The big hope for the future has been that Microsoft would commit the resources necessary to polish up the stuff, enstrictify testing procedures, and so forth.
But clearly, that's not going to happen. Yes, it'll still be around, and it'll still get support -- but pretty clearly, it's the Foxpro to Zune's Access, kept around for legacy back-compatibility reasons, not as the dynamic and growing future. I know that nobody at Microsoft can come right out and say that (and the people on the media team probably want to believe it's not true), but it's not a difficult conclusion to draw.
So, with license-able DRM on the glidepath to irrelevance, it's time for everyone to come up with their own proprietary nonsense, and Real's just getting a head start. Won't help 'em in the end, of course.
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