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

To: Pruguy who wrote (2654)	4/15/1999 4:31:00 AM
From: B. A. Marlow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5843

This is tricky stuff, Pru, and just emerging. To begin with, we're suddenly in the middle of a "Holy War." (Note to Cesare J Marini: It IS Betamax vs. VHS, even though, this time around, hardware compatibility isn't in the way. Ego compatibility is in the way. Analyst Robert Martin of Friedman, Billings has it right. What's the same as Betamax vs. VHS are...the stakes.) Okay, Pru, back to your question. What it comes down to is sound quality. Whether it's a downloaded file or a streamed program, you want "CD quality" (or better) sound, not tin-cans-and-string, not shortwave, not AM, not FM/TV, not "low-fi" sound. And you want hi-fi if it's free, let alone if you're paying for it. So the question becomes, who can deliver the best MP3 sound? Here's something I sent as a PM to one of our group: We tend to put lots of energy into day-to-day stock price movements and hit-and-run news. Important to cover fundamentals, too. Many weeks ago on this thread, we identified MP3 as the single most important initiative RNWK could undertake. Rob Glaser may not read SI, but at least he agrees with us. Nothing against Xing, but I'm an observer of "buzz." A number of people feel that RNWK's taking on Xing (instead of say, making a deal with Fraunhofer/Opticon for MP3 encoding) will now force RNWK to scramble to optimize quality. On the plus side, though, it takes Xing out of play. Nothing stops Xing from working overtime to maximize encoding quality and resolution. We hope they do. Your point about the quality of the playback chain is well taken. Most people can't appreciate the difference or can't be bothered seeking the difference. For example, how many people even have computer speakers worth more than $20 a pair? Seems to me this paradox is the origin of the phrase, "good enough for government work." Still, opinion leadership matters. And MSFT matters. If MS Audio 4.0 is really good, RNWK will have an incentive to see that Xing leads in fidelity as well as conversion speed (which, as good as it is, mostly affects content producers and has limited perceived value to day-to-day MP3 listeners). BAM