A selection of recent comments from the first 333 signatures on the “Hey Apple, Don’t Break My iPod!” petition to Apple Computer to which RealNetworks has linked on their so-called “Freedom of Music Choice” website:
Dear Apple, Your company has long stood for innovation and open competition. Wasn’t it Apple that ran the famous Super Bowl ad encouraging consumers like us to stand up for our right to make our own choices? We’re asking that you do the same now and support the right of your own customers to make their own choices about where they buy music for the iPod. We want Freedom of Music Choice! Don’t lock us in to purchasing digital music from one source. That’s bad for competition. It will stifle innovation. And it will slow the adoption of digital music devices like the iPod. Do the right thing. Stand with us for Freedom of Music Choice! Sincerely, The Undersigned:
333: “When a company comes along that has a better sense of design and usability than Apple Computer, then I will consider using their service instead of iTunes. Until then, the prettiest and most efficient method wins. It’s iTunes all the way, a no-brainer, especially on Mac.”
319: “Real sucks and I’ll continue to use my iPod with iTunes Music Store exclusively, thanks.”
318: “Hey Real, this is nothing more than a two-bit jerry rigged hack.”
307: “This is a damaging & embarrasing site for your company. If I were you I would abandon this ‘campaign’ idea & take a look at why Apple commands such high levels of customer loyalty.”
304: “You’re not dead yet Real? You suck, your software sucks and your days are numbered. Have fun losing this one Real.”
302: “The iPod already supports tons of formats. If I want to purchase music online, I can do it with the best experience for syncing to my iPod with iTunes. Why would I want to use your tool which is inferior? That’d be like using Windows!”
284: “The iPod isn’t broken, and neither is the iTunes Music Store, which is the ONLY music store available to the Macintosh platform as well as serving the WinTel platform. If Real, just like MusicMatch, Wal-Mart, and every other service were interested in “choice”, wouldn’t they want to provide service to ALL platforms?”
282: “The iPod is perfect as it is. I had a choice when it came to Music Players, and it was the iPod. I had a Choice when I decided to buy online music or not, and I CHOSE the iTunes Music Store. As far as I’m concerned, the iPod and the iTMS are the best of the best, and no other music store or player even comes close.”
281: “Apple can make the experience more consistent and reliable, and innovate faster, when it controls all the components. What happens when 1000 different companies make all the pieces – you get Windows, where things are supposed to work, but don’t.”
275: “I actually prefer the synergy of Apple’s iPod and iTunes. I can play several formats on my iPod, including mp3 files. This feels like Real is simply trying to grab a chunk of Apple’s success and offering 49 cent songs seems like a desperate measure to me.”
It goes on and on, some are more, err, “colorful” than what we’ve chosen to highlight above. See for yourself here.
UPDATE 11:01 am ET: RealNetwork’s “Freedom of Music Choice” website has now removed their link to the online petition.
MacDailyNews Take: What’s the matter Mr. Glaser, you like to promote your so-called “freedom of music,” but you don’t like freedom of speech?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
RealPlayer Music Store announces iPod harmony – July 26, 2004
Test of Real’s new Harmony Technology works with Apple’s iPod – July 27, 2004
BusinessWeek writer: Apple needs to firmly squelch Real’s Harmony – July 27, 2004
Apple ‘stunned’ that Real broke into iPod with ‘Harmony’ – July 29, 2004
Analyst: Apple must not ‘sound anti-consumer’ in the face of Real’s ‘Harmony’ – July 29, 2004
RealNetworks issues statement about Harmony Technology and ‘creating consumer choice’ – July 29, 2004
The Motley Fool: Real’s Harmony ‘is a slap in the face for Apple’ – July 29, 2004
Mac users shut out of Real’s Harmony hack? – July 30, 2004
Forbes writer: ‘bad vibes aren’t likely to stick to Apple’ over Real’s Harmony mess – July 30, 2004
RealNetwork’s CEO Glaser crashes Apple’s music party – July 30, 2004
RealNetworks launces ‘Freedom of Choice’ campaign with song downloads for 49 cents – August 17, 2004
RealNetworks to debut ‘iPod-as-padlock’ ads – August 17, 2004
Text of ‘Hey Apple, Don’t Break My iPod! Petition to Apple Computer’ – August 17, 2004
Rob Glaser interviewed about achieving harmony with Steve Jobs – August 17, 2004
RealNetworks debuts replacement ‘freedom petition’ omitting comments – August 17, 2004
Well it seems that they have started a second petition with no ability to review submitters comments.
http://www.freedomofmusicchoice.org/
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?4real2
Talk about muffling the voice of the people.
And we can’t view names or email addresses. No point in signing that list then…
Signed… #585
But I see that people are signing it. The count is 65 at the time of this post.
Well jeez that was FUN!!! hope it comes back!
LOL!
This is so funnY!!
Just type a negative comment in the “name” field on the new petition. I put my name was “Real Sucks” and my e-mail address was “RealSucks@Real.com” and it accepted it.
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Yes, you can’t see ANY signatures so don’t bother. All it does is display a number and it implies that you AGREE with them.
In terms of a petition, this is completely useless. Without SOME ability to see who signed, it could easily be their own staff adding to it 1,000 times per minute. What’s the point?
I have NEVER seen such adolescent-like actions encouraged by a company [my apologies to any moral and responsible adolescent that I may have offended].
REAL just doesn’t understand that after 20 years in the trenches fighting to keep Apple alive that it’s going to take a LOT for us to take sides against Apple.
Especially when the other side is REAL, one of the least liked software companies that we are occasionaly FORCED to use.
REAL you are fighting a losing battle.
dv
More amusement, they removed the comments facility from their marketing site, err, blog. So, freedomofmusicchoice, not freedom of comments choice.
here it still is: http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?r4apple
They’re using “mod_perl”. That means they’re probably re-writing URL’s (server-side).
This is hilarious. So if you discard the iTunes supporters, you have like three people who may have legitimately signed the petition, and of those three, two are Real employees.
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This info should be spread to the media for the world to laugh at REAL’s endless ridicule.
Rortunately with that .org site Real has set up, it completely discredits any actual good intentions it may be pretending to have.
How much of that site is dedicated to presenting Apple and the iPod in a negative way as opposed to actually pushing for more freedom for music listeners?
Real is simply trying to wedge it’s way into the iPod, not actually offer anything to the consumer. It is so obvious from their .org that I’m actually a bit disappointed in them. If you’re going to pretend to be a champion of choice, at least present yourself as such. They make no attempt at doing so.
This will fail.
Freedom of music but not freedom of speech. I just visited the old petition and saw the comments, then I went to the website where they posted a new petition link and there no field where you can add comments. Hmmm…
nice.
Fortunately*
Obviously Maczealots were fast to write their crap on that site, they would do anything to kiss their cult Master’s (Jobs) ass.
F*ck you Reality Check, this isn’t suck ass TMO. Go back to your own site tool…
Hey TMO troll…and how’s that view from Glaser’s back side this morning? You’d be the one to know all about kissing ass if anyone here did.
Anyone ever look down at the bottom of the [url=http://www.real.com/music]http://www.real.com/music[/url] site? you see this:
“Certain intellectual property and related rights of the iPod player and various things associated with it are claimed by Apple Computer,Inc. The use here by RealNetworks� is for identification purposes only. Real is not affiliated with or sponsored or endorsed by Apple. That being said, they seem like cool folks and we certainly wouldn’t mind grabbing a beer with them.”
Tha last line is funny!
I posted aload of comments and the ‘webmaster’ has blocked me!!
LOL!
LOL!
Here’s one of mine
“Im ROB GLASER and sorry to admit – I stole the fairplay code from Apple and have illegally hacked their code – FBI please send me to prison.
LOL!
THIS IS SSOOOOO MUCH FUN!!!
Hey guys – maybe you should look at this one and sign this!!
http://www.petitiononline.com/notreal/petition.html
IF you want to have real stop sign this http://www.petitiononline.com/notreal/
there sendin it to real.