Streaming has become an indispensable part of our everyday life. Many will probably still remember RealPlayer, which is considered the pioneer of Netflix, Spotify and Co. today. But what actually became of the program?
Just follow the latest concert of your favorite band in the live stream? Or binge the new season of your favorite series on Netflix at the weekend? No longer a problem today, but things looked different in the early days of the internet. Streaming, i.e. transferring media from one computer to another in real time, has been technically possible since the mid-1970s. RealPlayer, the mother of all streaming services, defined a first streaming standard in the mid-1990s.
When digitized speech was transmitted from one computer to another computer for the first time in 1974, the Internet was still called ARPANET. The abbreviation stands for Aadvanced Rresearch Pprojects Agency Network. Since that time, developers have dreamed of transmitting music, films, concerts or other events in real time over a data line.
It wasn’t until the late 1980s that the first computers powerful enough to receive streams came onto the market. However, the bandwidth available at this time is not yet sufficient for stable media transmission.
radio on the computer?
Robert Glaser has worked at Microsoft since 1983. The computer scientist loves radio. As a teenager, he oversaw the building of an on-school radio station at his high school. In 1993 he learned about the Mosaic browser, the first Internet browser capable of displaying graphics and other interactive elements. Robert Glaser then resigned from Microsoft and devoted himself to his new passion. In early 1994, Robert Glaser founded the IT company Progressive Networks. It took a little over a year for the company to launch its first product: the Real Audio Player.
With the free software, music can be streamed and listened to on a computer. The Real Audio format makes it possible, despite the extremely slow modem transmission of 14.4 kilobits per second or 0.0000144 gigabits per second. Today’s Internet connection can handle up to 1 gigabit per second. The sound quality also leaves a lot to be desired. However, there is great joy in being able to transmit and receive media via streaming at all.
First live stream via RealPlayer
Spurred on by this first streaming milestone, Progressive Networks continues to develop RealPlayer. In fact, in September 1995, the Seattle Mariners’ baseball game against the New York Yankees was broadcast live via the still young Internet. The stream breaks off shortly before the end of the game, but the response in the computer world is enormous.
From now on, the RealPlayer is considered to be the measure of all things in terms of streaming. Neither Microsoft nor Apple have a similar product on the market at this time. In 1997, Progressive Networks released the Real Video format. Due to the high level of data compression, it is now possible to stream music videos, which were very popular at the time. Even if the quality doesn’t quite match the videos on MTV, music lovers all over the world can enjoy streaming via Real Player.
In the meantime, Robert Glaser has changed the name of his company to Real Networks. In November 1997, Real Networks went public on Wall Street. RealPlayer’s triumphant march seems to be continuing unabated. However, the big competition in the form of Microsoft is already appearing on the horizon.
Also Read: Microsoft Removes Internet Explorer From Windows PCs
With Windows 98 a completely revised version of the Media Player appears. At this point in time, around 85 percent of the media available online is still in real format. Due to the massive spread of Windows 98 and thus also the pre-installed media player, the balance of power soon changed.
Rumors are now spreading that RealPlayer has what is known as spyware. This is a tool that collects information without being asked and sends it to the manufacturer. The RealPlayer is said to have overheard what music was being played on a user’s computer. The spyware then sent the music titles to Real Networks. That caused a lot of trouble at the time. Today, in the age of Google and Facebook, such a “scandal” would probably not even be worth reporting. Real Networks is trying to combat negative image and emerging competition with exclusive premium offerings, including video from CBS, the BBC, Al Jazeera and Ministry of Sound. However, RealPlayer’s star is beginning to decline. The first Internet crisis in 2000, the dot-com bubble, accelerated the decline of real networks.
Online media are now also increasingly using the Flash format from Macromedia for streaming. In 2005, a newly founded video portal called YouTube also relied on this format. At this point at the latest, RealPlayer is finally forgotten. However, the software and the associated real format are not dead. It might even be a historical joke, because YouTube videos can now be downloaded to your own computer using RealPlayer. At least a little satisfaction for the streaming pioneer.