It looks like RealNetworks’ games may be catching up with them. It has always annoyed me at how difficult it is to find their free media player. (Not to mention all the pop-ups it launches.) Every time you click on the link for the free version, another page loads with all the pay versions in plain view, and the free version is off in the corner somewhere. I guess many other people felt the same way about that practice. I see that CarTalk has switched to using Microsoft’s media player to broadcast their shows due to all the complaints they’ve received from their listeners:
Here’s the problem. In order to hear our audio, you have to go to Real.com and download their “free” RealPlayer. But when you get to the web site, the free player is harder to find than Osama Bin Laden at night. And the site seems to do everything it possibly can to get you to “buy” a player instead. You have to work very hard to get the free player. And we think that stinks. And get this. It stinks so much that it even makes Microsoft look good by comparison. That’s something, huh?
We’ve heard from many of our fans that have been duped, and who have accidentally shelled out their hard-earned dinero. And we won’t even get into the ways that the RealPlayer tries to take over your computer once you install it. So, after surveying the alternatives, we’re switching to Windows Media Player (which works on Macs, too).
If you’re making Microsoft look good you must be doing something wrong! 🙂
(link via MaoXian)