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Re: OT: Re: Starscapes/Real audio rant
Mark asked:
> Uh, why not just mp3? MPEG is a mature and robust format. MPEG4 is
>quite
> amazing IMO. The beauty of the Quicktime format is that it encompasses
most of
> the major codecs, including MPEG4. Windows Media is actually pretty good
too,
> and you can get them to play on most macs, though not quite as well.
>
The reason is streaming, pure and simple. Despite what one might think
about people being used to mp3 as a format I think most computer users
blanch at the idea of [1] having to download a song before you listen to
it,
and [2] the file size is prohibitively large. I think mp3, as great as it
is, also still has its problems beyond this, but most of the disinformation
about Napster/etc (courtesy of the RIAA/Big Five) would have us think that
EVERYONE downloads, plays and shares mp3 files. I'm not even sure that
it's
a 40% penetration yet. QuickTime, alas, has its own predatory processing
going on too, though not as bad as Real/AOL, and their download/update
process has until recently been flawed at best.
Whatever the case is, I refuse to be a pawn in some company's attempt to
gain market dominance, like I was for Real. Apple's no more a "kinder
gentler" company than anyone else, in any event.
S.P. Goodman
EarthLight Productions
*
http://www.earthlight.net/Gallery - Cartoons and Illustrations!
http://www.earthlight.net/HiddenTrack - Cartoons via Medialine!
> Clifford Novey wrote:
>
> > I agree- Real One is Satan's spawn- you have to be really determined
>and
> > patient to root out all the pop ups, auto notify, computer scanning,
ultra
> > infiltrating crap they include with it. And I too think it sounds
>crummy
in
> > the end anyways but i was 'forced' to install it yesterday as so many
folks
> > use it.
> > I prefer .wma format over all others 9yes I know it is MS product)-
sounds
> > the best and I can use WinAmp to play them. Too bad it doesent play on
the
> > Mac platform as it is supposed to. It is also interesting to note that
> > WinAmp was bought out by AOL. Isn't AOL linked to Real? They prob own
them.
> >
> > Cliff
> >
> > > Why should
> > > they care?
> > >
> > > Unfortunately, lots of sites use the format, thanks to Real's ascent
>-
on
> > > most of OUR backs - to dominance in the codec arena. I don't know
>why
> > > really, given the awful quality of the results their encoders now
produce.
>
>
>
>
>