Posted by 8bitjoystick at 5/8/08 1:54 p.m.

Good. They have not had a hit… well ever.

Seriously why is Real Networks even still in existance. My Step Brother used to be a programmer there but hasn't Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and MPEG killed them yet?

Posted by soulmusic at 5/8/08 2:14 p.m.

Didn't PC magazine rate Real Networks as the worse crap on the internet?

Do they tell you to build vintage bowling alleys in your corporate office BEFORE your company actaully makes a profit in Business school there mr. Glaser ?

Posted by unregistered user at 5/8/08 2:54 p.m.

One more way for Glaser to make some big bucks, now that Real's stock is apparently permanently stuck at 6 (look at the charts since 2000).

The games division is the only division that's had continued growth (everything else grows for a while then peters off). It's long been keeping everyone else afloat.

Of course Real will net another huge windfall from the IPO, just like the MSFT settlement, which will then give it enough cash to discover their umpteenth new groundbreaking business model that justifies their continued existence.

Blecch.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/8/08 3:38 p.m.

Just one more excuse for Glaser to fire off one of his infamous emails about Jobs and austrian danish.

You missed the boat, Rob, and have nothing but anti-trust claims left to prop up the embers. The only people who willingly use your product now are the same individuals who still use Netscape to download weather forecasts. Really, take the remaining money and toss it from the top of Westlake. The world will be a much better place.

Posted by soulmusic at 5/8/08 4:09 p.m.

Rob Glaser = the Humanoid Chipmunk.

Except Chipmunks have better business sense.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/8/08 4:11 p.m.

The worst thing at RealNetworks. Rob Glaser

the best thing at RealNetworks. Rob Glaser

Shame Andrew Wright and the other early team members are long gone. Also, the story mentions the companies they bought, but doesn't mention the dead bodies behind them - like Nonstop Entertainment

Posted by Arty Ziff at 5/8/08 11:00 p.m.

Does anyone actually willingly use Real for anything any more? It's "malware". Actually more like "crapware". Certainly "adware".

Posted by unregistered user at 5/9/08 8:11 a.m.

The former Real exec makes the only point worth making - that Real itself is nothing. It's got a bunch of unrelated purchases and subsidiaries that probably suffer more than they gain by being lumped together.

Some of which can't survive on their own and are merely husks that add a couple million to Real's revenue numbers (usually they are all that remains of some previously profitable business model that tanked, and Real just won't cut off the small revenue stream).

Others, like games, can probably stand on their own, or make more sense as a product line in someone elses business.

Either way, Real got a huge cash infusion when they went public, and another one from MSFT. That's allowed them to make some strategic purchases that keep them afloat. But there's no reason for RNWK to exist, unless you think of them as a holding company.

Posted by unregistered user at 5/9/08 1:54 p.m.

honestly who uses RealPlayer anymore. no-one!

I'm amazed they are still in business.