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Real Audio: How can
I get this radio on the Web thing?
It's no secret that you can listen to radio on your computer.
It's a blast, and it's really easy to do. Just go to http://www.real.com
and follow the links to download the latest Real Media player.
Install it. Start the Real Player once it's installed and click
on any of the "preset" radio stations in the presets menu and
you'll soon be listening to radio. For more and other stations,
try the links at the end of this article or ask the Alta
Vista search engine the question "Where can I listen to
Real Audio?"
What Computer Equipment do I need?
If you are a Macintosh user with anything as recent as a Quadra-series
computer, chances are your computer has all the infrastructure
needed to listen to Internet media, just plug in some speakers
or try a pair of headphones. PC users need a reasonable sound
card that complies with current standards, such as the sound
cards from hardware manufacturers Creative Labs and Turtle Beach.
Most laptop computers have what they need, and get RealAudio
without a hitch.
As always, a faster modem makes for a smoother Internet experience.
The people that make this stuff recommend a minimum of a 28.8
modem.
Some Internet Media come through at near CD-quality, though
you wouldn't know it with mediocre speakers. If you really get
into on-line radio and media, good-quality speakers are a great
investment. Some of the latest small speaker set from Cambridge
SoundWorks are a good price value.
Current prices on these and other computer products are available
at http://www.pricewatch.com.
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New Media Editorial: Where is Real Audio Going?
In the mid-90's a small company in Seattle, Washington called
Progressive Networks developed a technology called Real Audio.
Using the nascent infrastructure of the Internet, Real Audio
opened up the world by allowing any radio station to digitize
its signals and send them over the Web. By distributing free
of charge the application that allows Web users to tap into
these digital feeds, Progressive Networks quickly established
a new standard in Digital Broadcast Media. Within just a few
years, radio stations in some of the worldis remote places have
set themselves up on-line.
Now you can listen to Pink Floyd over the Web from a small
radio station in Portugal. Brazilian radio stations build sites
covered in Portuguese and English slogans advertising regional
services and companies. A business park in Paraguay put together
a site using a canned Real Audio sound track that endeavors
to attract outside investors and industry.
In the early-80's, new technologies enabled Cable TV providers
to make hundreds of channels available to subscribers in many
developed countries. At first, it appeared there would soon
be a channel providing 24-hour broadcasts about history, religion,
and other topics that could increase global awareness. Yet alas,
like TV's simpler programming before it, cable only opened up
a world of mostly-garbage, most of the time.
Today, http://www.real.com has a link to a streaming multimedia
presentation of the latest Victoria's Secret line. Real Audiois
new media seem doomed to rerun the course of Cable TV. New releases
of Real Audio's listening application come with presets to radio
stations that are Web-only. This allows broadcasters to advertise
Web sites that sell the music being played. Much less subtle
even than conventional advertising, the word here is simply
"Click, buy, thank you bye.Ó
Like any media though, somebody has to pay for all this. If
The Market has no interest in all this new development, what's
the incentive? Our only hope as consumers of this new media
is that the benevolent service providers will offer us something
good enough that we wouldn't be ashamed to show it to our kids.
On the domestic front, Progressive Networks counterbalances
marketing forces with a few positives like a pre-recorded, on-demand,
hourly news broadcast from NPR.
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Where RealAudio May Be Headed in Latin America and Around
the World
What will happen on the International front with this technology
is grounds for considerable speculation. At the moment, it's
novel that radio stations the world over are jumping on-line,
despite the reality that they are paying for it out of their
shallow pockets. Why do media in underdeveloped countries wish
to participate in this, albeit at their own expense? This might
represent a common human sentiment: envy. Obviously, the
stations aim to use this new Internet stream to leverage their
position and listener base. However, a return-on-investment
study would quickly show almost any Latin American RealAudio
project to be a colossal waste.
In Latin America, where multinational media titans at least
as grand as those of the US control many media, Internet media
development will be driven, even more than in developed countries,
by those who can pay. More interestingly is who will listen.
The number of Latin Americans with any access to Internet services
is below the current generous global estimate estimate of 1
person in 100. The numbers show that Latin Americais RealAudio
content is being made available primarily for a non-Latin American
listening audience.
As consumers of these media, we can expect that the advertising
frenzy that is developing around Internet media will quickly
go global, and cater to individuals that work and live on a
global scale. In addition to selling CDis and lingerie through
Real-formatted media, we may soon see and hear advertisements
for global tourism and travel services, such as hotel and rental
car chains seeking to lure Internet-connected clients from around
the world. This will reinforce western pricing standards globally
for western-style services, with related pricing repercussions
in local economies.
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Technically Speaking: Real Media vs. Developing Microsoft
Technologies
Since RealAudio first emerged, Microsoft has used new versions
of their products to replace it or to otherwise attempt to control
this new media. With the latest release of Internet Explorer
5.0, Microsoft has added a set of radio controls on the toolbar
beside the browseris other controls.
As a continuation of the Microsoft marketing paradigm, the
radio controls in Internet Explorer 5.0 force the viewer to
access stations through a Microsoft Switchboard, run by the
Microsoft Network (MSN). As such, content, and future marketing
campaigns, can be centrally controlled by Microsoft. This is
a less-than-subtle repeat of one of the behaviors that got Microsoft
into its current legal predicament.
While RealAudio still works the same as ever with the 5.0 release
of Internet Explorer, its functions are less apparent to novice
users than the Òseamlessly integratedÓ ones that come with Internet
Explorer 5.0. For now, Progressive Networkis Free 6.0 Real Player
is considerably more advanced than Microsoftis competing ÒMedia
PlayerÓ and the new, somewhat tinny-sounding radio controls
built into Internet Explorer.
Progressive Networks, the makers of Real Media products, are
still by far the industry leaders in terms of sound clarity,
compression technologies, and features. They also have the momentum
of an enormous installed user base, and they show no signs of
wanting to sell their technology to Microsoft but would prefer
to keep to an open standard that the world over can access.
It is unclear if future releases of Windows and other Microsoft
products will allow Real Audio to do this.
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