I've seen a lot of RealPlayer bashing going on around here and it is starting to bug me. I happen to work at Real and kills me to read all of the comments about RealPlayer "being a virus" and that it "takes over your system" and I'd like to set the record straight.
So is this an advertisement? Absolutely not. I don't work for the marketing dept. and I don't want you to buy anything. I just want to offer a different side (the truth) to all of the stories I've been reading around here.
Is RealPlayer spyware? No. It doesn't report any usage details that can be tied back to any individual. So does that mean it reports my details anonymously? Sort of- but wait, don't blow your lid- when you rip a CD it uses an online database to fetch Artist/Album/Track info for you so that you don't have to type it in by hand. Is data about your music being transmitted? Yes. Is the software spying? No- every other jukebox app does the same thing. So then where did the spyware rumor start? About 5 years ago RealJukebox had a feature that sent a users playback info and an ID unique to them up to our servers so that we could offer a "music suggestions" service. By knowing that you listen to Metallica, we might try to offer you a CD from Soundgarden? Was the info ever used? No. We never implemented the feature. Did it cross the line? Yes. Was it sinister? No.
Does RealPlayer "take over your system"? yes and no. Yes- it does register as the handler for most media types when you perform the default install, but no it isn't trying to get away with anything. It is a media player- you're installing it- it assumes you want it to play your media. A few years ago it had a feature that would automatically reclaim media types taken by other apps- why? Because other apps did the same thing. Was there a way to turn this behavior off? Yes. Should this behavior have been op-in rather than opt-out? Yes, but read the comment about adware before you pass judgement.
Is the RealPlayer "bloatware"? No. I hear this all the time and it drives me up the wall. Run it along side any other media player with similar features (Windows Media Player, Music Match, new versions of WinAMP,...) and the stats are the same (or RP is better).
Is the RealPlayer addware? Yes. I can't argue with you about that (instead I argue with the marketting folks
). Consider this though: when Microsoft is bundling their player AND server with their OS for FREE what is the company supposed to do? The short term answer was to leverage our large userbase to sell adds in oder to survive long enough to put together the long term plan- to get the player on devices not controlled by Microsoft (i.e. cell phones), and to sell subscription content and music downloads. The plan is working and if you visit
www.real.com you'll notice that there are no adds.
What about XYZ? Ask away. I'm not privy to all the info all the time, and I'm certainly not speaking on the company's behalf, but I do know a lot of the history and I'll answer as best I can.
Thanks for letting me rant,
--goof