RealPlayer
If this software turned up at your door, you'd call the police. RealPlayer commits just about every sin in the book, sprinkling itself across your desktop and offering 'Free games!'. It installs a 'Message Center' that tells you about microcelebrities. There is more advertising embedded in the application than used to be on the front page of The Times. And you just wanted to stream The Archers.
At least Europe's been spared Real's Rhapsody music shop. When we looked at a beta before a subsequently abandoned UK launch, we were given software to install. 'Disable your firewall', it commanded. 'Drop dead', we replied.
4%
2%
Do they realize it.
Do they realize that I no longer EVER use Outlook, Real Player, Reader, Itunes, Quicktime (not that it ever works properly anyhow), that I've "tamed the web" so that I can unclick Yahoo Toolbar install with my eyes shut, that no Symantec or Norton software ever gets near my machine, that most software updates are set to manual and the firewall stops any of the big ones "phoning home" without telling me.
Or that I've realised that my free browser, email, virus checker, firewall, image program, media player etc etc actually WORK BETTER than the paid for stuff.
Mabe they don't care, coz most computer users are idiots - well they like me will end up learning soon enough.
Good article, well put!