On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 06:37:34 GMT, in <alt.privacy.spyware>, "Richard
Steinfeld" <rgsteinBUTREMOVETHIS@sonic.net> wrote:
>
> I'm looking for a good alternative to Real Player.
>
[snip]

There is no such animal, really. This is by the deliberate design of the
various Real Media formats, which are heavily protected, legally.

> I've heard two players mentioned recently. These are:
> 1. "Real Alternative"/"Media Player Classic" and
> 2. "JetAudio."
>
[snip]

Actually, those are three separate programs, IIUC.

"Real Alternative" is pointless, since the ONLY correct answer to Real Media
content is to do your best Nancy Reagan imitation: "Just Say NO!"

I've heard some assorted good things about "Media Player Classic"; but I've
not yet tried it out.

I have tried "JetAudio"; but I'm not doing handstands. Its user interface
tries much too hard to be "kewl", at the expense of simple usability.
Whomever wrote it is obviously very young. Having said that, it is a
passable alternative to Apple's QuickTime for viewing .MOV files, especially
on older/slower systems where the QT player tends to act like a 5,000-lb.
elephant. For most of the other formats it handles (and there are quite a
few), there are generally better alternatives, especially for the more
popular formats like .MP3 and such.

> I miss the non-commercial radio content that I used to get
> with Real. I found Real just too abusive to have on my
> machine, so I ripped it out, removed all the fishhooks,
> which took some doing. My computer runs a lot more reliably
> now. I won't belabor Real's uncivilized behavior here;
> others have done that nicely, and will continue to do so.
[snip]

I understand, and sympathize. But you're bemoning this to the wrong crowd.
You *should* be making precisely these points to your local NPR Station
Manager, *and* indelibly impressing upon him that a "public" broadcaster
should be offering their content in generic NON-PROPRIETARY formats, such as
..MP3, .MPEG, etc.

> I tracked Real Player's changes when I installed it. It made
> more than 5,000 changes to my system.
> Ahem. I said, Five Thousand Changes to My System! (The
> printout of these changes took 46 close-spaced pages! They
> kept emerging from my printer as my jaw dropped).
> Good God! Is this electronic Satan or what?
>
[snip]

Pretty close. Real Networks *IS* fundamentally Evil.

--

Jay T. Blocksom
--------------------------------
Appropriate Technology, Inc.
usenet01[at]appropriate-tech.net


"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

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