I exchanged a lot of email with NHPR on this matter a few weeks ago during their fund drive. (I sent them a message during their spring fund drive indicating that we were witholding our donations until they had a solution that wasn't specific to Microsoft and similar messages more recently.) Their most recent response (I'm looking for my copy of those messages now) was that Microsoft was a significant contributor to NHPR, and that the volume of requests for Real Audio was too small. (I wonder how many requests they got for Microsoft's Player versus how many requests they got for just a live audio stream).
I think we're running into a bureaucratic head-wedgedness here - probably related to being more concerned about getting funding than where the funding comes from and any agendas (explicit or de-facto) behind that funding. Marc had a good idea about going to NHPR and showing them some possible solutions. However, I seem to remember some people trying this earlier (last spring) and getting rebuffed by NHPR. I think the fact that NHPR is outsourcing their streaming has something to do with this. On the whole, I'm very much discouraged with this and feel that NHPR/NPR is playing the old corporate games rather than looking for new "markets" or doing their share to stem the influence of monopolies in our society. If my employment situation and the economy were different, I'd just donate the $2K and be done with it (they mentioned $2500 a few weeks ago, so the price appears to be going down). But that wouldn't solve the problem of making Microsoft's monopoly even bigger or more potent. --Bruce Randy Edwards wrote: > A couple of months ago I wrote to NHPR <http://www.nhpr.org> > complaining that I couldn't listen to their online bitcasts because they > broadcast using only Windows' bitcasting software. I expressed some > surprise that they weren't supporting all listeners and by their choice > were supporting a company convicted of enforcing a monopoly, blah, blah, blah. > > I got a reply back that they had few complaints about their Microsoft > bitcasting software, and that they would look into the matter. > > Yesterday I received a combination pledge request/answer. They wrote: > > - - - snip - - - > At some point in the past 6 months or so you sent us a request that we > offer the Real Audio option for our live stream. We'd like to deliver. > We offer Real and Windows Media for our archived audio; it makes sense to > do the same for our live stream. > > The only catch is a fairly modest amount of money. Steve Bothwick, our IT > guy, and I figure that it will cost us at least $2,000 to set this up. > That includes the charges we would pay to Public Interactive, the firm > that provides our streaming, and our set-up costs here at NHPR, both > internally and on our web site. The $2,000 is a one-time fee. > > I don't know if all of the people on the Real Audio list gave during the > most recent membership drive but I hope you will see the Real Audio issue > as the thing apart because quite frankly, we've only received about 20 > requests for Real Audio live streaming. > > What I'd like to propose is some very targeted giving. Please let me know > if you would be willing to contribute to this specific goal of offering > Real Audio live streaming. Let me know how much you would be able to give > and whether you would want to pass this note along to others whom you > think share your interest in Real Audio. > > If I see that the response is strong enough, I'll get back to you and we > will make this happen. If the response falls short, I'll get back to you > and let you know that as well. > > If you can think of a better way to handle this, feel free to let me know. > > Regards, > > Jon Greenberg > Senior Editor/Dir. of New Media > - - - snip - - - > > Now, the way I see it, the problem is two-fold: First, I don't like > the fact that I can't listen to NHPR because I run GNU/Linux. But > secondly, there's the entire concept of broadcasting this in a proprietary > format -- IMHO, Real Audio is only a small improvement over the Windows > bitcasting. > > Does anyone have an experience with bitcasting with IceCast, the Ogg > Vorbis-embraced bitcasting software? > > -- > Regards, | Need help with educational technology? > . | > Randy | Stop by <http://www.EdTechHelp.Net> > > ***************************************************************** > To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. > ***************************************************************** -- For the latest CodeMeta news, go to http://www.codemeta.com/news . For my personal news, go to http://www.milessmithfarm.net/news . ***************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *****************************************************************
