Rhapod Please Rob

Real Networks is planning a big event on April 26th in NYC.  I can just imagine Rob Glaser standing up and doing his best Steve Jobs impersonation, holding up some new invention that will jumpstart his "groundbreaking initiative in digital music."

I hope he holds up a Rhapod.

What’s a Rhapod?

It’s an iPod that works with Rhapsody, the best online service in the digital music world.

I can get almost anything I want on Rhapsody.  There are a few holdouts, but not many.

Generally, I’ll hear about some band or remember a record that I love listening to, type it into Rhapsody and viola, I am listening to it.

But that’s only when I am on my laptop.

I want Rhapspody in my iPod, in my car, and on my stereo.

That’s where the Rhapod comes in.

As we all know, with all the great accessories that have been made for the iPod, you can use the iPod to play music wherever you are.

I want Rhapsody to work just like that.

So, here is what a Rhapod needs to do:

-    It needs to be able to synch with any of the music that is on Rhapsody.  If I can listen to it on my laptop, I can synch it my Rhapod.
-    It needs to have wifi built in.  If I am in Starbucks, it should allow me to listen and synch to music that isn’t currently on the Rhapod
-    It needs to integrate into my car radio.  Ideally, it would have a FM transmitter like the iTrip built in.  87.9 (or any other frequency you choose) becomes Rhapod radio everywhere.
-    It needs to integrate into my home stereo.  There should be a Rhapod connector that uses wired and wifi connections to allow me to play the Rhapod in any stereo I want.
-    Rhapsody needs to include a podcasting client so that I can download my podcasts to my Rhapod no matter where I am as long as I’ve got some kind of IP connection.

That’s my dream machine.  That’s the iPod killer.  That’s what Real needs to announce on April 26th.

Because Apple has become (or maybe always was) a they company.  They aren’t going to open up the iPod and iTunes.  So Rob should.  And while he’s at it, he should make the hardware spec and the software for the Rhapod open for anyone who pays Real a license to make one.  Do to Apple what Microsoft did to Apple the last time.

That’s what I want to see.  And if he does it, I’ll sell my Apple stock and buy some Real.

Comments

[Amanda]

I also hope that it's something equally ambitious. However, I have a sinking feeling that it'll just be unveiling version 3.0, which does a lot (including transfer to portable devices and offline 'streaming') but it won't be an iPod killer. It will, however be another nail in the coffin of 'traditional' music delivery. Viva la digital revolution!

[Jeff A.]

Rhapsody will never be the best online music service for a huge number of people like me as long as they aggressively (and dare I say petulantly) discriminate against/shut out Mac users, which includes 90% of the creative community. Let the corporate suits wage war with their rivals all they want, but don't take it out on the actual people (potential customers) who make the wheels of profit spin round.

[Mike D.]

If it were any company but RealNetworks making such an announcement, I might be optimistic, but Real has proven time and time again that their best days are behind them. They haven't been "best" at anything since the original release of the RealAudio player back in the mid 90s.

Even Rhapsody, which is a decent service, is not as good as Napster-To-Go.

I think you might be interested in something that hasn't really gotten a ton of press since its low-key announcement a couple of weeks ago and that is Motorola's iRadio. Check out the interview about it here:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000403038814/

Motorola seems to be on a lot more positive track than Real lately, so I wonder if this is indeed going to be the earthshaker over the next year or so.

[Charles Swift]

I met the Real Audio team at Internet World here in Boston in 1996 (at least I think it was 1996--it so long ago I can't remember precisely) when my wife was writing a daily column about the web. I still remember the first song I ever heard stream over the internet--Rick Derringer's "Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo". Sounded like the output from a kid's record player being run through two tin cans connected with string.

Seeing your wishlist for Real Audio's upcoming announcement really puts into perspective how the internet has fundamentally changed our expectations for information delivery have changed in the past ten years.

[Nivi]

Daunting feature list you have spec'ed out.

You may enjoy this comment by "Steve Jobs":

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000950040347/#c200472

[Jonathan Nolen]

Apple has plenty of faults, but Real is the exact opposite of "we" company (http://socialcustomer.typepad.com/the_social_customer_manif/2005/01/realnetworks_ju.html). Apple may refuse to communicate openly, but they still try to build products with the interests of the users in mind. Real tries to trick (hide the free version) or force (exclusive content deals) people into using their product. I just don't trust them.

[simon]

*BUFFERING*

[Chris]

I think you're close... except the technology used will be Microsoft's Janus software - as used in Napster to Go.
So sorry, no IPod support just yet...

[Robert]

Maybe Real has combined a Rhapsody to Go with their ACC busting technology. Fill you iPod with Rhapsody subscription tracks. That would be pretty killer.

And BTW you can stream Rhapsody from your computer to your home stereo with one of many cheap devices or just connect your sound card to your stereo with a $3 cable.

Rhapsody is a Godsend, and if you haven't tried it you can't speak to it because you're ingnorant.

Cool Rhapsody Playlists

[mark munroe]

Good list of features...here are a few I am hoping for:

* What I want is Rhapsody to integrate seamlessly with my own music.

* I want to be able to rate Rhapsody music with the click of the button. (Preferably a remote like i can do with my Squeezebox from SlimDevices for my own music)

* I want to be able to generate Itunes like playlists with Rhapsody library.

* I want to be able to supply a song or an artist and let it generate a playlist for me based on that artist (like a product called musicmagic does for my own music). This music should not be based on genre but the music itself.

* I’d like that playlist to be a mix of music I know and music I don’t, music I own and music I don’t.

* Of course I want the music to go

Mark

[Ron]

Rhapsody has been great. I downloaded Napster too, because generally if Rhapsody doesnt' have it, Napster does. But I've had Rhapsody for the past few years and it's been fantastic.

I agree with the wireless option, though. We're working on something like that at my company, incidentally.

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