[sift this] The folks at Progressive Networks have been aggressively pursuing the Internet audio arena since day 1. When Real Audio 1.0 appeared on the net, it was the first real example of other types of media which could easily be transferred over the Internet besides HTML pages. A collective "Ooooooooh" of understanding echoed throughout the halls of every media company as they realized that the Internet wasn�t just a slick way to send email to anyone in the world.

Real Audio had a high "gee whiz" factor, but the quality was poor. Even with ISDN at my disposable, it still sound like listening to walkie talkies in the back seat of a moving car.

Real Audio persisted � I chucked the first version of Real Audio, but it was the Mom who showed ABCs Internet hourly news, a brief news program on the web updated every hour. Just like listening to my favorite AM radio station on the way to work except I have control over the broadcast, when it starts, when it stops � no more mad dash to the radio when I happen to notice it�s the top of the hour.

Now just the other day, the Co-Worker called me into his cube, headphones in hand. "Listen to this..." It was the new Madonna track. "So?" So, it was being played over the Internet via Real Audio 3.0 and the quality was close to a CD. Remaining skeptical, I went home to try the same clip over ISDN and the results were the same -- near CD quality sound over the Internet.

Real Audio 3.0 sports improved delivery technology by reducing packet loss via UDP, bandwidth negotiation, and other technical sounding terms, but the fact is: it simply sounds great.