These ladies aren't discussing the battle between Real Networks and Apple. But there's an important Clue to be derived here nonetheless.
The dispute between Real Networks and Apple Computer over getting Real songs onto the iPod is a business dispute, even a legal dispute. It's not supposed to be about politics or religion. (The illustration, from the Portland Tribune, is from a political rally.)
Customer loyalty, usually a wonderful thing, can be turned into passion that looks very political indeed. And when Real tried to make this political, through a petition, the backlash began.
"If we wanted 'choices' like yours, they wouldn't have to be foisted on us," wrote one Apple fan. And that was one of the clean, rational comments. Others went for obscenity-laced tirades.
In response Real closed comments at its freedomofmusicchoice.org Web site, except to registered users. What started as a petition to exert "political" pressure on a business dispute had degraded into a truly political flame war.
What went wrong? Real assumed the great majority of people would be passionately on its side. While no one has yet done a poll (so most people may actually be on Real's side) it seems apparent that the intensity is on the side of Apple.
What should Real have done? IMHO, back off until, say, November 15. Then hire someone with experience in the political Web. (The name Markos Moulitas comes to mind.) That's how political consultants "move on up," charging the big bucks to like-minded business causes after the election is over.
But my recommendation isn't worth that much. Real CEO's Rob Glaser's best move might be to call a former vice president, Maria Cantwell. As in Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Washington. (The picture is from her biography at Congress.gov.) An honest job recommendation would cost her nothing in political capital, and probably lead Glaser to his best possible decision.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for over 25 years and has covered the online world professionally since 1985. He founded the "Interactive Age Daily" for CMP Media, and has written for the Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age, and dozens of other publications over the years.
1. Mauricio Babilonia on August 19, 2004 04:07 PM writes...
Or, it could be that Real is pretending to act in the consumer's interest, when they really just want to make a buck off the iPod.
That's what peeves me.
Permalink to Comment2. Bruno Dexter on August 19, 2004 08:24 PM writes...
When REAL first approached APPLE about licensing fairplay, GLASER coyly threatened a MSFT alliance if APPLE refused.
Permalink to CommentHard ball tactics aren't always well received. REAL's recent moves smell like extortion and not like an altruistic consumer oriented strategy.
REAL figured consumers were stupid and that APPLE was desperate for acceptance - so they foisted HARMONY onto the market place, with hopes of riding the IPODs coattails to marketing success.
If REAL was serious they'd bring something of value to the table and not just manufactured protests and marketing BS.
3. oldluddite on August 19, 2004 08:34 PM writes...
Why is the assumption made (or seem to be made on various sites) that the hostile posts were all from 'the Mac Cult'? Real and it's software hasn't exactly won friends anywhere, whether PC or Mac, and the vituperation could just as easily come from the PC side of the equation. The contents from many of the posts were, umm, nondenominational.
Maybe just a case of 'just deserts'.
Permalink to Comment4. jbelkin on August 20, 2004 01:01 AM writes...
Just the naysayers who were without a doubt that itms would never be able to compete against the "entrenched" MS WMA stores or that the ipod was 'overpriced' or that the ipod mini was 'way overpriced,' pundits/analysts and non-tech jounalists seem to have zero clue about the new DIGITAL age - and not in some vague philosopihical sense but in the actual bits and bytes that can be reformated on the fly.
And just as they thought Apple was dead 6 years, they didn't have a clue about what 'consumers' and the average person thought then and especially what's going on now.
It's clear that REal is the Al Qaeda of technology - more interested in destroying than anything else. It's interesting how journalists just run PR without asking the issuer any questions like Real talks Fredom of Choice - but why are only Windows users allowed in their stores? Why is their no converter for REal's RAM/RM files to Mp3 but yet they found time to create a hack for a competitors file format? Would they really welcome a hack to Real's file formats? Where are the journalists actually looking into being journalists and not just re-hashing PR as 100% truth?
Sure, if you go to a Mac site, the feelings are pretty one sided but if you go to Wired, CNET, Slashdot, the sentiment is pretty much 85 to 15 and if you really read the 15% on real's side, their actual comments are more 'let's hack it all' so the people who are actually defending Real's intrusion into a store consumers willing choose is about 5% - and 5% is really the cult.
Permalink to Comment5. Jonathan on August 20, 2004 08:04 AM writes...
What's to say that the backlash wasn't Real's intention in the first place - I would say that they have garnered ten fold more publicity for their misguided campaign than they would have done if such a thing hadn't happened.
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