Real Progress

Full Stream Ahead

By Rob Glaser, Founder & CEO, RealNetworks FT.com In this article, Glaser outlines how at the time of founding RealNetworks he saw "the unbridled potential of the Internet for delivering entertainment and content directly to consumers whenever, wherever and however they wanted". He goes on to discuss "three early fundamental limitations" to the growth of the digital entertainment space: 1. Bandwidth shortages 2. PC as only delivery device 3. A wired Internet Bandwidth and better compression technologies have improved significantly and will continue to improve over the coming years making it easier and more cost-effective to deliver high definition content to consumers.  Business and government initiatives in the US and elsewhere will also make broadband accessibility universal. PC-only Internet access is being displaced as all kinds of new devices ranging from mobile phones, PDA's, games consoles to personal video recorders such as TiVo are able to connect to the network using the Internet protocol (IP) and share information among each other. The wired internet is also rapidly disappearing as 3G wireless networks, WiFi and other emerging technologies such as WiMAX are introduced and rapidly adopted by consumers setting them free to take the web anywhere they are and not where a fixed access point may be. As Glaser adds with "the combination of these three developments" we will be able to "treat IP access like water or electricity".  Interestingly he also discusses how "we are getting to the point where what [Real] delivers over the Internet will in some cases replace television and in other cases augment it". As an earlier Business Week article also highlights, Glaser states that "the race is on and the challenge now is for companies to capitalise on this convergence of an unlimited array of content while giving consumers maximum choice. The companies which have embraced this new world of consumer-driven entertainment services are offering music, movies and even games over these new networks." There are still 10,000 pieces to this puzzle and no cover image to serve as a reference but at least some companies such as RealNetworks have begun to sort out the borders...