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Technology Stocks : RealNetworks (NASDAQ:RNWK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Pruguy who wrote (3890)	7/17/1999 12:30:00 PM
From: Scott C. Lemon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5843

Hello Pruguy, > I did ...if I understand you correctly now, you are saying the > WiMP, has lisenced realaudio, so the msft player works on formats > produced in real audio...Haven't they been doing this for a long > time? Yes ... this is a "brand visibility" thing. The Microsoft player, today, plays Real formats ... so why should a Windows user go get the RealPlayer? They have one player (from Microsoft) that plays all the formats ... Obviously the RealPlayer has some other features that I like, but I think that Real needs to stay visible in the customer's face! Microsoft loves to hide other companies work behind it's logos etc. > I considered this good news as the real technology is protected by > patents But this is Microsoft's trump card! Patents don't matter in this case ... Real gave permission and signed a deal with Microsoft to allow them to embed the RealPlayer technology into the Windows Media Player and hide the Real name, logos, and references. Out of site ... out of mind! ;-) This is the typical Microsoft way ... to embed others technologies in a way that makes their product look better ... and puts them in a position to "embrace, extend, extinguish" ... I would hope that the recent deals on WinCE and WebTV were made in a way that the Real brand is extremely visible to the end user! > .....Something tells me we have delved into a technological area > that I don't understand...either way, lets hope things continue to > go well for us. Actually it's not really a technical issue ... it's packaging. I believe for a hi-tech company to be successful it has to build a brand, and that brand has to be highly visible to the end users. Anytime you allow another company to utilize your technology or products in a way that hides your brand you are weakening that brand. The only good thing that came out of the Windows Media Player was the public debate about the installation issues ... it did get Real more visibility! ;-) Scott C. Lemon