Taking a cue from cable, RealNetworks is offering a free preview of their SuperPass. Except that they call it a “trial”, defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as “a state of pain or anguish that tests patience, endurance, or belief”, and “a trying, troublesome, or annoying person or thing”.
In an additional sign that RealNetworks is being forced to retreat from the Mac and Linux/UNIX markets, only the Windows player supports this preview.
The press release is all sex (“sizzling Anna Kournikova video from her swimsuit calendar shoot”, “travel to the sexiest destinations with exclusive Wild On adventures”, “video footage of the Sports Illustrated Ultimate Swimsuit edition”), drugs (Whitney Houston), and rock’n’roll (Jennifer Lopez, The Osbournes). With some and some news and sports to keep us well-rounded, naturally.
Merrill Brown, Senior VP of RealOne Services, says that they’ve doubled their SuperPass subscribers in a year, but they neglects to note that they’ve doubled them to (or from).
In a show of sanity, you don’t need to give RealNetworks your credit card number in order to experience this, erm, trial. | RealNetworks press release