AfterDawn: News

Do you think Apple is 'pig headed'?

RealNetworks' boss Rob Glaser took a small swipe at Apple at the Digital Living Conference, saying the company's refusal to make the iPod music player compatible with music from other music stores was "pig headedness". RealNetworks just launched a web-based version of its Rhapsody service yesterday which has the support of Microsoft as part of the pair's antitrust settlement. He also said that Apple's unwillingness to co-operate with other music stores promoted piracy.

Last year it was Apple that was targeting Real for criticism, after Real launched a service called Harmony, allowing its customers to transfer their music to iPods. Apple accused Real of cracking but strangely never filed a lawsuit. Glaser also said that Steve Jobs makes for a "good pinata" because he's taken a position against interoperability. He believes that customers should pressure Apple to change its ways.



He said Apple being on its own in term of interoperability makes piracy more compelling for consumers. "If I take all my MP3s from this illegal site or that illegal site, they'll work on the iPod or anything else. Whereas if I buy them legitimately, they'll only work at one place," he told News.com.

Source:
The Inquirer

Written by: James Delahunty @ 6 Dec 2005 11:42

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• 11 comments

• TigraoZT

  I don’t really get it... I can put any MP3 on my ipod now just using itunes.
  "If I take all my MP3s from this illegal site or that illegal site, they'll work on the iPod or anything else. Whereas if I buy them legitimately, they'll only work at one place,"
  what is the meaning of that... does it mean that i can't just put my MP3's into my Ipod using Apple's software(itunes). I’m confused!
  

  6.12.2005 12:04 #1

• Dela

  it means if u buy music from itunes u can ionly store it on an ipod and nothing else (well besides some compatible motorola fones) - whereas MP3 files can be played on virtually anything.
  
  Its like a muic player that supports Windows Media DRM, that means it supports audio files from a lot of different music stores that have licensed the drm... apple's ipod however, isnt compatible with files proitected by windows media drm, only FairPlay, which protects iTunes music

  6.12.2005 12:09 #2

• punx777

  they have a word for something like this, wait, i think its a board
  
  

  6.12.2005 12:30 #3

• punx777

  damn it, why cant you edit these? ANYWAY,
  
  
  they have a word for something like this, wait i think they have a board game too,
  
  

  6.12.2005 12:32 #4

• Dela

  to edit them go to the forum and go to the news comments forum ;-)

  6.12.2005 12:33 #5

• Invasian

  Well, I guess they are trying to compete with other music downloading, so they aren't a Monopoly yet, but I think it could happen since it's popular and restricts you to store it on any other place except the ipod or some Motorola phones.

  6.12.2005 13:22 #6

• GrayArea

  Yes, I do.
  
  The main reason PCs (IBM compatables) are the dominant personal computer is that IBM licensed the platform to outside manufacturers. Duh. Apple has learned nothing from their own mistakes. That qualifies as 'pig headed' in my book.
  
  Just to be clear, I'm not commenting in any way about the QUALITY of Apple's offerings, okay?

  6.12.2005 14:07 #7

• Rikoshay

  Quality? From an iPod? That would be a pig headed statement. I'm not saying that it's a totally bad product (besides that it makes a total mockery of music with the rest of the music business), but to say that it actually "sounds" good is very hard to swallow. ;)
  That doesn't even include Real in the equation.
  To honestly take RealNetworks seriously would make Mac (or anyone) even more stupid than noted otherwise. I mean, at what point in time did Real actually have a ground-breaking product? There products shouldn't even be endorsed, let alone used! DivX 5.2 Adware version had the right to put spyware on someones computer, and at least they told you, but Real doesn't! I think it was pretty damn pig headed for them to allow that.

  6.12.2005 18:55 #8

• ralphieb

  If your company was named for a fruit often thrown to the amimals, you just may be "Pig"headed in your own right...<sorry,couldn't resist>
  
  rb

  9.12.2005 13:17 #9

• emmaco

  Another early lead from Apple to be squandered by Job's arrogance. To think his algorithm will even be in existence 20 years from now...
  
  

  9.1.2006 08:38 #10

• vegeta66

  the only reason i dont buy music is because its licensed meaning u can put on mp3 and ur comp 1 time
  thats why i get off cd's or bearshare

  11.1.2006 09:32 #11