One of the *many* benefits of being a mac user (beyond the obvious benefit of not risking life and limb zooming around the Internet at Ghz+ speeds) is iTunes and Quicktime streaming. Actually QT isn't a Mac OS only (get it here; it does audio and (some) video) and is a nice alternative to crap like Windows Media Player and that corporate sludge of code known as RealPlayer. Don't ever install RealPlayer on your computer. Ever. Ever ever ever ever ever! I don't even think I'd install it on most of my enemies computers.
Quicktime is cool though. It has a nice little interface and can play audio streams. I usually listen to SomaFM's Groove Salad or NPR. At least until today, when I fired up the NPR link and found a generic QT window of sorts indicating that the QT-TV selection has changed and that I should update my software to see the latest options. I wasn't exactly sure what that meant since I have the most up to date software and ignored it and went about my web browsing for the morning.
Then I discovered a new headline awakening an awareness that had lain dormant: NPR dropped Quicktime support. My initial reaction was to get pissed off at Apple. Their QT-TV selection has slowly faded over the last 18 months or so. It used to kick all sorts of ass, including live video feeds of BBCWorld and other stuff. There are still lots of links to content on the Apple QT Content page and the move trailers page is very cool. But the substantive comment like NPR and BBC will be missed.
Reading the comments at slashdot reminded of something though: QT is free. The Quicktime Streaming Server is open source and freely downloadable (hell, even the Darwin OS to run it on is free as well) and there are no fees to stream from it once you set it up. It looks like the decision to drop a QT stream was purely economic in the sense that NPR wanted Apple to pay (or keep paying) them to keep streaming.
Factor in a consideration of the current platforms being streamed by NPR (WMP and Real) and suspicions deepen even more. Microsoft may have pressured NPR into dropping the QT support. I have a hard time believing that Real paid NPR, but maybe my sense that Real isn't making much money is off the mark.
Regardless of what happened, I'm severely disillusioned by this. NPR is public radio and should be expected to offer its broadcast as widely as possible, especially when that broadcast doesn't cost them anything (bandwidth maybe, but that equivocal regardless of the streaming platform). They don't even offer mp3 streaming or downloads of shows and programs (but Pacifica offers downloads of its DemocracyNow! program, an interesting listen-to.).
Corporate encroachment is becoming worse and worse these days, and I fear its becoming critical. Critical in the sense of critical mass, where we no longer feel that it is wrong or undesirable or that other options exist and thus we just accept it and quit thinking about its consequences on our lives. Even though it may feel pointless in the face of corporate power or obvious to the point that you may feel it doesn't even warrant being pointed out, don't accept it. Be aware of it and talk about with other people.
Just as in class, when you shouldn't be afraid to ask questions because other people likely have the same question as you, talking about issues of concern is important because many other people are likely upset about the same stuff. But if no one brings it up, we end up as a mass of silent accomplices in our own demise.
I kind of meandered off-track here at the end, and there is no proof that NPR was bought out by Microsoft, but its decision to stop hosting a stream on QT is clearly not rational by the expected standards of a National Public Radio station. Perhaps I can find a net-radio station that rebroadcasts NPR. Haven't had luck with that so far though. Please let me know if you know of any.
Posted by Nutrimentia at April 20, 2003 01:30 PM | TrackBack