As the Apple Turns: Scene 3556: Sticking It To RealNetworks (2/8/02)

Sticking It To RealNetworks (2/8/02)

Gosh, is it early February already? How time flies! To think we almost totally forgot that it's Out Of Left Field Press Release season; how embarrassing. Then again, it's all just a matter of reading the signs. For example, we know it's Sweeps Month because Cordy got naked on "Angel." We know it's almost Valentine's Day because everything at The Mall is that heinous shade of pink. We know it's winter here in New England because, well, it's New England and the calendar doesn't say "July." And we know it's Out Of Left Field Press Release season because Apple is suddenly harping on about how QuickTime has "surpassed" RealPlayer.

The headline's a little misleading, actually, because some people might get the idea that Apple is using the word "surpass" to refer to feature sets or total number of active users, when in fact the company is tooting its own horn simply based on reported rate of growth. It seems that last year, Apple figures that QuickTime added 80 million new users, while RealPlayer only collared 75 million. However, we assume these figures are based primarily on downloads of the software, which might not be the most accurate way to count new users; heck, we ourselves have been QuickTime users for ages, but we must have downloaded the installer at least five or six times over the course of the past year. So the numbers are a reason to smile, maybe-- but to trumpet them in an honest-to-goodness press release seems a little over the top.

Think about it: a questionable difference of five million new users, and this justifies a press release? Picture this scenario: instead of reading about this online, let's say Phil Schiller ran up to you all excited, jumped up and down, and shouted, "I have FABULOUS NEWS!" You say, "What is it, Phil?" Phil then gushes like mad over those new user numbers. Maybe it's just us, but we'd probably pause, say "that's lovely, Phil" in as soothing a voice as we could manage, and then back away slowly while glancing around at escape options. Not that it isn't good news, of course; Apple's been chasing RealPlayer for years, now. It's just that this fact doesn't seem quite up to the scale of Apple's usual press release fodder. Frankly, it lacks context; it came from (all together, now!) out of left field.

Whoops! On second thought, scratch that whole bit about "lacking context"; it turns out we plumb forgot that QuickTime Live was postponed back in September when bad things happened, and now the rescheduled show starts this Monday. Clearly this latest "we're possibly starting to get more users than RealPlayer, maybe" press release is just an appetizer; further chunks of QuickTimey goodness are undoubtedly on deck for next week, and we're guessing that those announcements will be somewhat more substantial. How substantial? Well, MacMinute reports that QuickTime 5.1 will finally burst onto the scene, complete with long-awaited support for the MPEG-4 video format. Now that's something to get excited about. Phil: you may now commence jumping up and down.

SceneLink (3556)

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The above scene was taken from the 2/8/02 episode:

February 8, 2002: QuickTime's growth finally overtakes that of RealPlayer-- maybe. Meanwhile, Circuit City is the latest Mac retailer to bail, return, and now bail again, and Microsoft acknowledges a security flaw in Office v.X even as Bill Gates expresses "annoyance" at having caused computer users so much pain...

Other scenes from that episode:

3557: Breaking The Cycle Of Hurt (2/8/02) Ah, Apple and its retail partners; the on-again, off-again relationship that makes Pamela and Tommy Lee look like eternal soul-mates enjoying an uninterrupted run of sheer connubial bliss. Who could forget Apple's severing all ties with every national retailer except CompUSA way back in 1998?...
3558: "Is My Packet Malformed?" (2/8/02) Over the past week, we've gotten a lot of mail from viewers who are wondering why we never saw fit to mention Bill Gates's recent admission, as reported in The Register, that he's "really annoyed by the incredible pain [Microsoft has] put everyone through in computing."...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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