Friday, April 16, 2004
Apple To RealNetworks: "Talk To The Hand"
Posted by Kent Pribbernow in "NEWS" @ 11:30 AM
Apple apparently isn't interested in forming an alliance with rival RealNetworks.
"Seattle-based RealNetworks said Thursday that Apple chairman Steve Jobs had rebuffed an offer by RealNetworks' chief executive Rob Glaser to meet and discuss forming an online music alliance involving Apple's best-selling iPod portable players. "The iPod already works with the No. 1 music service in the world, and the iTunes Music Store works with the No. 1 digital-music player in the world," he said. "The No. 2s are so far behind already. Why would we want to work with No. 2?" As first reported in The New York Times, Glaser made the invitation in an e-mail to Jobs last week that suggested that the two companies join forces against their common enemy, Microsoft Corp. He proposed a meeting to discuss the matter this week while he was in the Silicon Valley."
I don't blame Apple one bit. RealNetworks's products and services are garbage. Why hitch your cart to a dying horse? If anything Apple should start thinking about working with Microsoft, who is clearly gaining ground. WMA has quickly become the lingua franca for digital audio (outside of iTunes). Supporting that architecture makes more sense.
"Seattle-based RealNetworks said Thursday that Apple chairman Steve Jobs had rebuffed an offer by RealNetworks' chief executive Rob Glaser to meet and discuss forming an online music alliance involving Apple's best-selling iPod portable players. "The iPod already works with the No. 1 music service in the world, and the iTunes Music Store works with the No. 1 digital-music player in the world," he said. "The No. 2s are so far behind already. Why would we want to work with No. 2?" As first reported in The New York Times, Glaser made the invitation in an e-mail to Jobs last week that suggested that the two companies join forces against their common enemy, Microsoft Corp. He proposed a meeting to discuss the matter this week while he was in the Silicon Valley."
I don't blame Apple one bit. RealNetworks's products and services are garbage. Why hitch your cart to a dying horse? If anything Apple should start thinking about working with Microsoft, who is clearly gaining ground. WMA has quickly become the lingua franca for digital audio (outside of iTunes). Supporting that architecture makes more sense.
