Lessons of history

Why do I hate RealNetworks? Let me count the ways.

#1 You must provide a credit card number even though you’re welcome to drop out before charges begin. They’re hoping you’ll forget….
#2 You can sign up online but you can’t sign out online. Sign up 24/7; sign off working hours only. Reminds me of AOL.
#3 Real claims to do this to improve their service. What bullshit.
#4 If the past is any guide, I’ll be discovering weird stuff Real left behind weeks after I’ve tried to eradicate it.

I wrote that in September 2003.

A few weeks ago I reluctantly downloaded Real Player onto my Mac; it was the only way to see a presentation I really wanted to watch.

A few days later my machine froze with a UNIX Kernel Error. And again. And Firefox began crashing. Dreamweaver no longer worked. Often when I inserted a CD, its icon did not show up on screen.

The Apple Genius Bar had me run a lengthy hardware check. Finding no errors, I re-installed my operating system. Firefox continued to crash, as did Keynote, Adobe, SnapShot, others. When I’d read David Weinberger’s woes with his Mac, I feared the worse.

The Genius Bar suggested I begin deleting things from my Preferences folder until the problem was resolved. I opened the folder — and remembered that I had installed Real right before my MacBook went to hell. I deleted Real.

I have had no problems since.

How do the cowboys at Real stay in business?