“RealNetworks pioneered digital media in the 1990s and doubled its music-subscription business last year, but Wall Street’s playing a different tune nowadays,” Brier Dudley reports for The Seattle Times. “When RealNetworks founder and chief executive, Rob Glaser, pitched his stock yesterday at the Goldman Sachs Technology Symposium, the room was half empty and only a handful of investors stayed around to ask questions.”
“Digital media is hot, but RealNetworks apparently is not, at least in comparison with Apple. Apple boss Steve Jobs didn’t make it to Goldman’s conference, but the company’s chief financial officer came and drew a standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 institutional investors,” Dudley reports. “Glaser was undaunted by Apple stealing the limelight. ‘Apple’s got a hot product right now so obviously people are focused on that,’ he said. ‘But in terms of being one of the core companies up there, they look at us in digital media in the same sentence as Apple or Microsoft.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We have an insatiable craving for an original glased Krispie Kreme right about now. By the way, QuickTime, announced in May 1991, is the pioneer, certainly not Real. RealNetworks (then known as Progressive Networks) wasn’t even founded by ex-Microsoft executive Rob Glaser until 1993. In February 1994, Apple Computer introduced QuickTime 2.0 which featured interactive television, music and full-screen video support. RealVideo debuted three long years later in February 1997.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
RealNetworks’ CEO Rob Glaser grabs 3 of top 10 spots on ‘Dumbest Moments in Business 2005’ list – January 31, 2005
Bono-Glaser photo caption contest now open – October 25, 2004
Real’s CEO Glaser: ‘Harmony’ hack legal, Mac lovers are very sensitive to Apple criticism, and more – September 14, 2004
Analyst: Rob Glaser’s ill-advised war against Apple ‘is going to bite RealNetworks on the ass’ – August 30, 2004
RealNetwork’s CEO Glaser crashes Apple’s music party – July 30, 2004
Real CEO Glaser: Steve Jobs’ comments on Real ‘not succeeding’ are ‘ridiculously humorous’ – April 29, 2004
NY Times: Real CEO Glaser was close to having ‘iPod’ before Apple, but let it ‘slip through his fingers – April 24, 2004
Real’s CEO Glaser: Apple’s iPod/iTunes combo ‘threatens to turn off consumers’ – April 20, 2004
Jobs to Glaser: go pound sand – April 16, 2004
Real CEO Glaser begs Apple to make iPod play nice with other music services – March 24, 2004
Real CEO Glaser: ‘iTunes is only going to be used for playing songs you bought using the iTunes store – January 16, 2004
RealNetworks in the same sentence with Apple and Microsoft when it comes to digital media. Here, let me try:
“When it comes to digtal media, Apple is on the cutting edge, while Microsoft and RealNetworks only deliver 100% pure shit.”
Good enough!
‘But in terms of being one of the core companies up there, they look at us in digital media in the same sentence as Apple or Microsoft.’
Yea right.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”tongue wink” style=”border:0;” />
What a load! I’m sure Apple’s crowd browned Glaser’s shorts in a major way. He’s such a tool. All that’s left are just muscle spasms, twitching long after the body’s dead.
Jimbo, nice one.
Just embarrassing. Don’t you think someone needs to put him out of his misery.
no rob– they look at you in the same sentence as ‘dork’ and ‘garbage’ and ‘cat poop’
no one should ever go to a place that has “man” and “sachs” placed next to each other in the same sentence.
At least there were lots of complimentary doughnuts left
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” />
“…the room was half empty and only a handful of investors stayed around to ask questions.”. I imagine that it was so quiet at the close of Glaser’s pitch you could hear crickets chirping in the background.
Its amazing there are actually people that would invest in that! Anybody have any beachfront property on the moon left for these folks?
So Glaser said “Apple’s got a hot product right now so obviously people are focused on that”
Which means that Apple has a hot product and Napster hasn’t.
Apple’s making money at an ever increasing rate and Napster are spending money at an ever increasing rate.
At least he won’t have to face the embarrassment of talking to a half-empty room next time. There won’t be a Napster next time.
Hahahahahahahahaha!
Of course when I said Napster, I really meant Real, but come to think of it, there’s not that much difference.
Easy mistake
No, there’s no water on the moon. However if you want beachfront property on Mars let me know.
Glaser, yessssss. What a tool! I mean, you can feel the donut grease oozing from his pores just looking at him. Yessss. Hey Rob, tell me, how many Real executives does it take to loose to Apple? . . . . . . . . Come onnnn, Rob! It’s an easy answer. You know it. I know you do. Here’s a hint: Do you have a mirror handy?
No really, Rob, you’re a great big, fat, lazy Real dork . . .
FOR ME AND APPLE® TO POOP ON!
You know, I like to look at how a CEO looks, I think that the way they take care of themselves is a reflection on how they take care of their company.
Steve Jobs looks in great shape, he is slim, tall, and during almost all of every keynote I have ever seen him do, he was standing and walking around the whole time. He is a vegetarian, something that requires a lot of work to maintain (I know, I’ve tried). When you look at him, you get this sense that you are really going to like him.
Bill Gates is thin, pale, and has almost no muscle on his body. During his keynote, he was sitting down, slouched over, pointing at things and making all of his gestures in the small bubble around his face (a good indication that someone is lying).
Rob Glaser is out of shape, a lot. He’s never going to get into shape, he just doesn’t care. I bet he has never declined an item of food in his life. It isn’t his fault though, he most likely had a mother that fed him junk.
What is this Real?
Never heard about it…
AlanAudio is right: who can tell the difference between Napster and Real anymore? Amusingly, whenever one or the other comes up in the media, it’s always Napster/Real vs. Apple, conveniently forgetting that the also-rans are competing against each other before they can compete against the big dog.
The ad on the linked page is for the Weather Bug- a notorious source of spyware and adware, just like RealNetworks. The MDN Magic word is hard, as in swallow hard, Rob.
LOL!
Rob take a hint – NO ONE WANTS YOUR CRAPPY PRODUCTS!
I think he meant pioneered it as a copy cat product for the inferior wintel platform.
Kinda like saying “I pioneered the implantation of gold teeth in a cat.”
Oh.. the zero sum line.. trying to sound like Bill Gates? Nice move..
— We have an insatiable craving for an original glased Krispie Kreme
Oh I get it … an MDN pun! You can find some in Rob Glaser’s underpants.
Ewww.
Or all over his place with a UV light.
The Mac community should not be so hostile towards Real. Real has supported the Mac for years and when they opened a music store they tried to make it compatible with the iPod by adopting the AAC codec instead of DRM WMA. Unfortunately Apple has tried its best to lock Real out of the iPod, limiting choice for people who want to buy music online. Right now Apple dominates online and portable music but with an increasing number of competitors subsidised by their parent companies and Microsoft, one day it might need to form alliances to defend its ground. Real and other non-WMA music stores can be valuable partners in this scenario.
By the way Username, having a go at Rob Glaser for being fat is very immature. Should we think less of the people who post here because some of them might be over-weight too? Grow up and stay on-topic if you want to say something that people care to read.
Okay, MDN what the hell is going on?! What the frick is there a NAPSTER AD along the right hand side of my screen?! I know ads bring in revenue, but that is certainly scraping the bottom of the barrel. Or is that supposed to be some sort of sick joke?
Anyone else getting this ad?