Apple and RealNetworks Alliance?

[Foocha]

Like all the best deals, this is a non zero sum - both parties get something.

If Apple wants to beat Microsoft, they're going to have to become more like Microsoft - getting used to licensing their technologies to 3rd parties is just par for the course.

As always, the devil is in the detail - Apple should push hard for as much free advertising as possible for iPod on Real.

 

[eSnow]

Apple will blow this.

They have always tried to go alone even if this came back to bite them. They are so convinced they can dominate this market they are going to lock Real out which will only enforce their image as a closed platform.

There is a reason the Real guy is leaking this email to the press...

 

[beg_ne]

Oh and I forgot the biggest plus for Real on my list.

5. Real partners with an honorable company that won't betray them and put them out of business 6 months later. (Massive plus for Real)

 

[sinisterdesign]

Realize one and ONLY one thing. This market is about to get a 1000 lbs gorilla tossed into the ring when Microsoft decides to release their music store. Guess what 60 billion with a capital B and a 95% market share will buy MS when it comes to negotiating with the RIAA? Anything it wants. Apple needs allies like HP and they need support from companies like Real. Take your ideals somewhere else because they have no place in the business world.

thank you. we have great hardware (although lagging a little right now) and an excellent OS and where has that gotten us? 2% market share? you guys can whine that we don't CARE what market share we have, but then you bitch & moan that your favorite game comes out a year late for the Mac? it's business & whether or not Real currently sucks, Apple is looking long term to decide whether or not this will help us stay on top of the music download biz.

do you think M$ got as large & influential as they are by staying true to their beliefs? they partnered with/bought out anyone that could possibly benefit them in whatever niche market they were looking to overtake at the time. if Apple blinks, this legal music market will just as quickly shift out of their favor.

who would have thought 10 years ago that IBM would be the one responsible for keeping Apple on the cutting edge? big business often has strange bedfellows & i think Apple needs to be a cheap french whore right now to entrench themselves in this market.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I simply ignore any and every site that requires realplayer - I refuse to even have the program on my machine.

Same here! I would love to see Real and Apple on good terms; this would mean more iPod sales for Apple (good), no more lousy RealPlayer program (very good), licensing revenue from FairPlay (good also), and a blow to WMA (EXTREMELY GOOD). The only bad side of this is there would be one less media competitor in the market (but some see this as a good thing).

 

[Trowaman]

I simply ignore any and every site that requires realplayer - I refuse to even have the program on my machine.

I usually don't use Real but I recently found the Liberal radio network and it streams via Real. So, it is now useful to me. . . for a first.

 

[vanmonkey]

Same here! I would love to see Real and Apple on good terms; this would mean more iPod sales for Apple (good), no more lousy RealPlayer program (very good), licensing revenue from FairPlay (good also), and a blow to WMA (EXTREMELY GOOD). The only bad side of this is there would be one less media competitor in the market (but some see this as a good thing).

Media competitor? Usually competition is good, it drives down prices, but all of these players are free! less competition in so far as media players is better in a free player market. I means one simple, free solution. I like that.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Media competitor? Usually competition is good, it drives down prices, but all of these players are free! less competition in so far as media players is better in a free player market. I means one simple, free solution. I like that.

Like I said, there are reasons to see the disappearance of RealMedia should this deal go through as good or bad. You've pointed out a good side - one that makes sense.

 

[MorganX]

Believe it or not, I think licensing Fairplay to Real can't benefit Apple. I don't see it. The service would only be good to iPod users. People who own iPods are not going to use Real software when they have iTunes, so what's the point? For Real to steal music sales from Apple?

Purchasing and Renting music and videos is about to take off, only those who can sell hardware to receive the content, content creators, and sellers of software and services to deliver it are going to make money. I don't see this as anything except Real trying to get a seat on Apple's lifeboat, and there's really no room for one more.

 

[Le Big Mac]

wow. Real mustbe hurting bad. and ya - this would be bad for M$. I don't care about M$ though - I always want whats best for us and for Apple.

No kidding. It's a really weird threat, too, since Real wants to compete with Media Player, and even got the EU to open up the media player market. So now real will simply go with the MS solution and be done? Maybe Real can join Netscape (who?) as part of the AOL family.

 

[Bendit]

I think Apple will go ahed with this, if not with Real then another company.

Apple is just doing the music store to support the sale of iPods. Wouldn't you think they'd love to offload the task of marketing the iPod to Real? They wouldn't have to do anything and they would sell more iPods.

Worst thing that could is iTunes music store would lose sales but Apple isn't making a profit on that anyway!

Go for it Apple! AAC needs more acceptance.

 

[MoparShaha]

This is a crossroads. Apple can either go down its historical path an remain closed, or it can open up and propser. I surely hope Apple has learned its lesson and accepts this offer.

 

[snahabed]

I agree

with those who say that, in return, Real should open up all of their codecs to Apple. Why should we further hammer a nail in Quicktime's coffin? Why should we allow Real to play every type of file under the sun?

Apple would probably make the codecs 100 times better. Hell, if they want to create a truly strategic anti-WMP merger, they could combine the programs into RealTime

 

[mrsebastian]

obviously real is hurting and "threatening" apple that they may have to go with m$, is no way to conduct business. that said, i also think it's great for apple, because not only will apple get more mainstream exposure, but they will also be able to get just about anything they want from the deal.

 

[Krrill]

Hmmmm

You know, no one has talked about the real media format being used on iPods... People may scoff at this because it's "A weak format" but whatever, who gives a crap... This could be the push RealMedia has been looking for to have their files play in a MP3 player. Now, I'm speculating a lot, and please for the love of god don't bitch at me for this, just hypothesizing.

Now, I know this is a rumor site, so..... There was talk about how the new iPods would get a colour screen and have some sort of video out (Look for the post, can't remember where it was at). This may just be a big crock o sh**, but if so, real could use this to put out it's own formats etc into the iPod, yes yes Mpeg rocks etc etc... Buuuuut, there are a lot of things out there that still use the RealMedia codec, and having the iPod to allow them to move this codec around etc will boost sales, while at the same time having the AAC as well.

I know this is a lot of speculation, but even having the stupid RM codec able to play through iTunes and the iPod it will give a bigger user base to Apple. I can't see anything better then this... This would slowly faze out the Real Player giving over to iTunes the user base, and allowing for people to "Switch to Apple".

If Apple fails to strike the agreement with RM we have passed up a big opportunity to increase Apple's user base. Go for it Apple! With you all the way!

 

[ktrout]

on one hand i would like apple to tell him to f... off (which steve in his wisdom surely will do) on the other hand i see a huge potential and am afraid of isolationism. has happened to the mac before, don't want it to happen to the whole music story here too. so yeah, take him up on it steve, your enemy's enemy should be your friend

Or perhaps Apple could simply buy Real. Your enemy's enemy should be your employee.

It would be nice to see all those Real-requiring sites become Quicktime-friendly.

 

[stingerman]

It's probably that REAL is in a pickle and will have to do a deal with either MSFT or AAPL, but they would rather deal with Apple. There is nothing wrong with REAL being upfront and honest about this. The only problem is that REAL can already use Fairplay, but it requires that they bundle Quicktime. It is Quicktime that actually handles the actual playing of the track, Fairplay and all. Apple already allows third parties to license Quicktime. So what Real is asking for is more than just a license. They evidently want Fairplay separate from Quicktime. iTunes is more than just a Trojan Horse for iPod, it is also for Quicktime and I think any deal with real would have to include Quicktime over Real's own player.

That is why it is going to be such a hard deal.

 

[singletrack]

Quicktime v Real

Most PC users I know seem to dislike Quicktime as much as Mac users dislike Windows Media Player for being slow and inefficient. If Apple added the Real codecs into Quicktime I can only see even less reason for PC users to create quicktime content. That would be a bad thing for Apple.

On the other hand, if Apple managed to persuade Real to drop their proprietary codecs and produce content in a quicktime compatible format - eg. mpeg4 and aac instead of rm/ra as part of this deal then that would be reason enough and there would be a load more quicktime compatible content out there on the web.

For example, the BBC stream their content in Windows Media or Real. If Real used an open standard instead of their own then I'd be able to watch/listen to the BBC's content with a player that didn't suck. It's particularly annoying when the BBC show their 'Click Online' computer show and it's about Macs but you can't actually watch it on a Mac.

Windows user wouldn't have to use the Quicktime player for Quicktime content either so they'd be happy and more content providers wouldn't be so arsey about providing cross platform content. Real's strength has been in it's software for producing content, not necessarily viewing it.

If Apple rebuffed Real, the only outcome I see is Real dying or being absorbed into Microsoft but it'd be better to have one of your competitors, even Real, close to you than to strengthen the beast.

 

[ITR 81]

Apple should take this offer and run with it.

What would be nice is if Real could also use QT content and QT could use Real content.

If this deal happens I think Apple needs also license Fairplay out to many of the car and portable CD player manufactures as well.

Apple then should buyout Napster and put the cat to sleep for good.

 

[goMac]

License Real formats?

They're already open source via Real's Helix project.... Apple doesn't need any permission to use them.. It would be pointless to make a trade for them.

 

[usarioclave]

When has licensing worked?

The only company that licensed its IP and succeeded on any kind of scale is...who?

Everyone in the valley thinks that they can emulate what happened with Microsoft and IBM. But every time a company tries to do that it fails. Look at Palm - its attempt at splitting its hardware and software failed miserably, and probably cost it hundreds of millions.

The cellphone OS makers are profitable, but marginal. Likewise the embedded OS manufacturers.

The fact is, you make the big bucks on hardware. To get hardware that works well, you write the software. Microsoft is the exception that proves the rule.

If anyone knows of a large company besides Microsoft that does things by licensing, then speak up. I can't think of any.

Glaser's letter is so full of this crap it's ridiculous. He's pushing this licensing/proprietary FUD because his company is getting beaten to death in the market. Go ahead, real, partner with MS - if they let you. Then get eaten alive, but more slowly than if you went it alone.

 

[blabla]

of strength.

Licensing from a position of weakness can be disastrous. Amelio's clone program allowed Motorola, Power Computing, et al. to cannibalize Apple's already-weak Mac market in direct violation of the agreement. Yet, in it's weakness, Apple wasn't in a position to make the agreement have any teeth. In contrast, Jobs could offer a deal to Real that would be watertight and highly favorable to Apple. Let's hope he does that.

It wasnt Ameilo's initiative to start the clone program, but the previous CEO Micheal Spindler.

 

[Windowlicker]

I simply ignore any and every site that requires realplayer - I refuse to even have the program on my machine.

the only thing i use the app for is watching south park.. even there mpeg4 (quicktime) or something would kick ass.

 

[davecuse]

Would a partnership mean that when i install 10.4 (someday) 213,890,218,481,324,097,321 trial offers would show up on my desktop kind of like the RealPlayer does? But seriously folks, this be great or horrible depending on the implementation. I don't think Real would be too excited to drop the .ra or .ram format.. Although if they did it would be cool, maybe we'd be able to have more radio streams through iTunes?

 

[xtbfx]

I usually don't use Real but I recently found the Liberal radio network and it streams via Real.

Aren't they out of money? They got pulled from LA & Chicago (pretty funny).

Anyway, I think Apple & Real should team up or Apple should buy Real.