USPTO.gov feedback: Please Un-RealPlayer
Posted by Stephen M. Nipper at December 5, 2006 12:50 PM
Newest addition to our list of things we wish would change about the uspto.gov website: Use of RealPlayer.
Everyone dislikes it. PC World Magazine even went as far as to label it as "#2 in its list of the 25 worst tech products of all time." (#1 was AOL, #3 was Syncronys' SoftRAM ((RAM "doubling" software))
Yet everytime the USPTO releases a video I want to watch I am forced to install RealPlayer, watch the video (and then uninstall RealPlayer). Argh.
J. Matthew Buchanan 
Stephen M. Nipper 
Douglas Sorocco 
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Comments
anonymous Says:
December 5, 2006 02:29 PM
But the RealPlayer is also available for Apple and Linux systems, whereas the MediaPlayer is MS-Win only!
Nipper Says:
December 5, 2006 03:09 PM
Anon:
Microsoft released a plugin for QuickTime that lets QT play WMV files. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx
As for Windows v. Apple...that isn't my point. My point is that the USPTO shouldn't lock us into using someone's proprietary file format. Instead, they should release the videos in a non-proprietary format that all video players play (MPEG-4, MPEG-2, etc.).
-S
John M Stec Says:
December 6, 2006 06:37 AM
Wouldn't it be better if these videos were in WMV or MP4 and distributed at podcasts so that they could be viewed anywhere? Who wants to be required to sit in front of their PC and watch streaming video anymore? Watching these on the train or airplane would likely make watching them and the trip less boring.
KinasePro Says:
December 12, 2006 08:06 AM
realplayer is an evil little thing indeed.
To ease your pain there is a real alternative though...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Alternative