Real man disses 'pigheaded' Apple man

With RealNetworks having settled its long long long running dispute with Microsoft, the company's top man Rob Glaser has confirmed the new target of his corporate envy will be Apple. Real and Apple, of course, have not been on great terms since Apple refused to collaborate with Real on their 'any-format-will-work-with-our-player' Harmony system, (and Real's attempts to create their own version of the Apple file format that can be played on the iPod hasn't helped mend any broken bridges). Speaking at a 'digital living' conference in San Francisco this week, Glaser accused Apple boss Steve Jobs of being "pigheaded" for refusing to allow other companies to make music available in formats that are compatible with the iPod. Glaser is no doubt jealous of Apple's continued dominance in the digital music space, though he does raise some good points regarding iTunes, sharing a number of concerns with top execs in the music industry - in particular, that while you can only play non-protected MP3s or tracks bought from iTunes on an iPod, there is a danger many music fans will opt for the non-protected MP3s, the main source for which is illegal P2P networks.