Auto Features Hamper Users’ Free Choice
One of the most annoying aspects of some PC programs is the way they try to take control. Some load automatically when you start your computer. Others become the default application for certain types of files. Some do both. There are those who call this type of automation a feature. I call it a nuisance.
It’s irksome on a number of levels. First, software that loads automatically slows down the computer’s start-up because Windows has to load each program into memory. Second, it wastes memory and other system resources. Even if the application takes up only a tiny amount of resources, it’s memory that could be used for other applications or data files.
And software that bullies out other programs bothers me because users might prefer the first program--or just not want to bother learning something new. Unless specifically told not to, Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator will automatically impose themselves as your default Internet browser. America Online will also impose itself and, in some cases, change your default home page.
All of this bothers me because it’s one more example of a company shoving itself and its products in your face. In many cases, programs that start automatically will display some type of icon or message on the system tray in the right corner of your desktop. Others will flash a screen reminding you of their existence and, in some cases, even display advertising.
I’m particularly annoyed at RealPlayer from RealNetworks. Real, along with Windows Media Player, has become a de facto standard for listening to or watching Web-based streaming audio and video. It’s a wonderful piece of software and a necessary part of your Internet tool kit because it’s the only way to listen to or view many audio and video files. But the company’s campaign to impose itself on you starts the moment you try to download the free software.
When you go to https://www.real.com to download the free player, you find a huge promotion for the $29.99 RealPlayer Plus, which has some extra bells and whistles that are not necessary to listen to music or watch videos. It doesn’t bother me that Real tries to sell premium products, but the company makes it quite difficult to find the free basic player. Even when you click on the free download link, you wind up at a page that, once again, heavily promotes RealPlayer Plus and forces you to hunt to find the link for the free player.
The RealPlayer Basic Standard installation, which you get by default, doesn’t just give you the RealPlayer. It also installs extra software that you might not want. One program I got by accepting the defaults was the RealDownload manager, which changes the user interface when you go to download files from any Web site. It has some nice features, but I’m used to the built-in Windows download manager and don’t feel like mastering a new program. The issue isn’t whether Real or Microsoft offers a better download manager but that you can wind up switching without realizing it.
Later in the process is yet another box that allows you to uncheck the default setting enabling RealDownload as your default download manager and--get this--send “anonymous information to RealNetworks about files you download” so that the company “can display relevant content and advertising while you download.”
When you finally have the RealPlayer audio and video software installed, it loads the RealPlayer StartCenter in the system tray in the lower right corner of the screen every time Windows starts. Unless told otherwise, the software configures itself so that RealPlayer becomes the default media player. That means that the software winds up playing your MP3 music, AVI videos and other types of video and audio files even if you don’t want it to.
Programs like this make using a PC even more complicated than voting in West Palm Beach County. But the “butterfly ballot” was an honest mistake. This is a deliberate effort by a software company to make it harder for you to exercise your freedom of choice.
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Technology reports by Lawrence J. Magid can be heard between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays on the KNX-AM (1070) Technology Hour.
