“According to documentation leaked to the New York Times, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser has sent an email ultimatum to Apple CEO Steve Jobs: Join a tactical alliance with Real, or we’re moving to Microsoft technology. The email, which was allegedly sent April 9, portrays a desperate Glaser, who seems to realize that upcoming Microsoft audio technology will allow Windows-based music services to plow aside competition from Apple and other company’s that don’t offer subscription-based offerings; Apple’s store, though extremely popular, is currently a loss-leader for the company because record company executives demand a high percentage of each sale and Apple must foot the architectural costs of the store,” Paul Thurrott writes for Windows & .NET Magazine.
[MacDailyNews Note: Yesterday, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Finance, Peter Oppenheimer particpated in Apple’s 2004 2nd Quarter Conference Call and stated, “iTunes Music Store generated a ‘small profit’ in 2nd quarter.”]
“People familiar with Jobs say it’s unlikely that Apple will reverse it proprietary strategy and join RealNetworks in an ‘us-against-them’ stand against Microsoft. For his part, Glaser says he’s surprised the email leaked. He describes the message as ‘reaching out’ to Jobs before he switches camps to WMA. ‘Why is Steve afraid of opening up the iPod?’ Glaser asked. ‘Steve is showing a high level of fear that I don’t understand,'” Thurrott writes.
“Expect Glaser’s email message, however, to fall on deaf ears. Aside from Jobs’ hubris and inability to see the big picture, Glaser isn’t helping his cause by repeatedly berating Apple for not opening up its iTunes store, iPod, and Protected AAC audio format. In England recently to push his new RealPlayer 10 software, Glaser again chastised Apple onstage for following the same unworkable strategy with digital music as it plowed with the Macintosh, which has fallen to record low usage and market share numbers under Jobs,” Thurrott writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Jobs is unable to “see the big picture?” If anyone, ever, could claim to be able to “see the big picture,” it is Steven P. Jobs. This has nothing to do with the Mac and licensing and OSes and the past. Too many iPods are being sold, Paul. Nobody who owns one will need WMA. And you know it. We do agree with Thurrott on one point: that Glaser is desperate.
“Steve is showing a high level of fear that I don’t understand.”
Maybe, Paul, you don’t see the big picture. Maybe it’s not fear, but you wouldn’t know because YOU DON’T SEE THE BIG PICTURE!
Jobs should do it! But do a MS on Real and demand them to drop support for all MS formats…. WMA and what ever their freakin video format is called
Thurrott never ceases to amaze me at repeatedly demonstrating what kind of an ineffectual KNOB he is. If it wasn’t for his moronic rantings and poorly researched (if at all) articles, I don’t think I’d laugh as much. I guess he’s good for something.
No news here move on…
Here we go again. From where did MDN find this laa-laa guy again?
Advise to MDN publids these Thurrot’s opionions mondays, so no one will notice them.
I think that Paul is little masocistic. He gives these opinions only to get attention and torture from Mac fans. Or this is the way for him to create an illusion and explain it to himself why he still uses windows.
i don’t even bother anymore going to his articles, the excerpts are enough to make me hurl
Thurrott unable to see the big picture
Try reading Apple’s Q2 results from yesterday Paul. 807,000 iPods sold, an increase of 909% year over year. ‘Nuff said…
by posting his comments we encourage his kind of behavior… I say we just ignore him and go on with our lives.
Paul just want’s us to make as many hits to his page as possible, so do not go there!!!!!!
He get’s paid everytime you go there.
MDN: Your headline is misleading. Thurrott didn’t make the “plow aside” comment–that was Glaser.
MDN: After re-reading, I see that I am wrong. Your headline is fine.
Turt-rot is a jackass!!! Ignore Him!!!!
I will never have a subscription based music service, I buy music (not from buymusic.com where you rent it). I want to own it and know that I can listen to it when I want.
Let see here
Disney / Circuit City DIVX leased movies – failed
Disney self destroying movies – failed
Windows self destroying music – failed ?
You would think companys would see the pattern here.
People like to own things, not rent them
more moronic dribble. What a tool.
And from the same master of delusion’s blog site (internet-nexus)
[B]Apple hides iPod Mini “sales” in quarterly results[/B]
[I]Apple reported strong iPod sales in its quarterly results yesterday, but refused to break out iPod Mini sales from iPod sales “for competitive reasons,” according to Apple SVP Peter Oppenheimer. Thus, my theories about the iPod Mini are correct: If Apple had been able to secure or deliver more than the 100,000 “pre-orders” it supposedly got for the Mini, it would have crowed about that fact to the world. Instead, with a combined shipment of 807,000 iPods for the quarter, the real number to get out of this is 10 percent: That’s how much iPod sales changed sequentially during the most recent two quarters. In other words, the iPod Mini has caused almost no statistical improvement for iPod sales at all. It’s not a flop, and I’ve never said that it was. But what I’ve been suggesting is that Apple is sugar-coating a lie, couching its inability to get parts in an “exceeds demand” piece of PR baloney that Apple fans soak up so easily. It’s astonishing that people eat it up: Once again, Apple has preannounced a product it knows it could never deliver in quantity, and then presented this problem as a good news story about how popular its products are. But numbers don’t lie. That’s why we didn’t get new iPod Mini numbers this week.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the Apple quarterly results report you’re not going to get from any of your Apple-loving sites. For the record, Apple posted earnings of $46 million on $1.909 billion in sales, which is great, and it sold 749,000 Macintosh computers (compared to roughly 35 million PC sold in the same time period, incidentally), which is OK (up 5 percent year-over-year). Apple gleefully describes its 807,000 iPod sales as a 909 percent increase over last year, as is their right. The company sells a lot of iPods. Too bad about that Mini though, eh?[/I]
Enjoy!
Thurrot is a ‘tard. Scratch that–too insulting to individuals with cognitive disabilities to compare them to him.
Ever see a picture of Glaser? They have one at the NYT’s article, and be afraid, very afraid. It’s obvious why Steve doesn’t want to get in bed with Glaser.
Therrot basis his whole arguement on the premise tha WMA is ubiquitious. But so is Quicktime. He fails to realize that both can live and breath in the same world.
Message to Micro$oftopoy:
Don’t count on HP/Compaq to support your plans of world domination in digital media. HP has already shipped 300,000 consumer PCs with iTunes installed and the program does not officially start until June. HP is the largest seller of Windows PCs-not Dull (Dell). Maybe the folks that spend $399-499 on an e-Machine will buy your new WinMedia handheld players for almost as much. LOL.
I love Thurrot stories… so entertaining.
Please sign.
http://www.petitiononline.com/muapt1/petition.html
Please sign.
http://www.petitiononline.com/muapt1/petition.html
Someone tape Thurrott’s mouth shut before the smell overwhelms us all.
Attention fanboys:
Steve Jobs either does not see the big picture, or sees it and doesnt really care. Yes this is the same strategy they used with the Mac, the Newton and well a number of other things, and it will fail just like the others. Fads only last so long, especially $400 ones.
You can all go back to masturbating with your pictures of Steven P. Jobs now.
Why do you even report on this guy and give him any exposure. He is a certified basher and idiot. Posting his crap only rubs off on your site. Please stop.
The M$/WMA camp’s only hope is subscriptions – they clearly can’t compete head to head with iTMS/downloads and the iPod.
As others have said – Steve Jobs clearly gets the big picture. I’d love to have just a fraction of his vision ability.
If Thurrot wasn’t such an idiot/tool he could have laid out the two visions – Jobs’ download vs. M$ subscription and left it up to readers to determine who is seeing the big picture and who is going to see millions in losses.