Posted by cwdjrxyz on 04/08/07 18:45

On Apr 8, 12:16 pm, "J.O. Aho" <u...@example.net> wrote:

> No matter that you can use flash for other things than just video, it's poorly
> supported format compared to mpeg. There are many places where active
> movements away from microsoft is done and alternative architectures are used,
> and there are manufacturers who pre-installs open source operating systems on
> all their desktop computers (when looking at the server market, it's been like
> this for a long time, but those machines are seldom used to surf the net).
> Just assuming that everyone else can use flash is a bad assumption, even if
> you and all your friends uses microsoft.

You do seem to have a limited conception of how modern streaming video
works on the actual web today, and it is a waste of time to continue a
discussion with you. Flash support has nothing to do with if you use a
Microsoft system or many other ones. You can install free flash
players on many OSs. In contrast, the WMP can be installed on only
Microsoft and some Mac OSs. This likely is one reason that there has
been some movement away from .wmv to flv/swf on many major sites.
There are very good reasons why mpeg is not usually used for streaming
video, one of which I mentioned earlier. Google and many other
streaming video sites do not employ idiots for programmers, and they
are interested in reaching the largest audience that might be
interested in their videos. All video streamed on the web is a
compromise, unless you aim it only for the very few who have a direct
fiber optics connection that will support over 10Mbps, and even 2 or 3
times that if you wish to use the newer HDTV formats. What may be the
best streaming format for a desktop computer may not be best for some
other device. For example, some of the formats listed in the VideoZoo
are designed for various mobile and cell phone applications that use a
small screen and can support only very limited bandwidth. In contrast,
if you are providing videos to download to the computer to keep, you
can use anything you wish, although the download time could be huge
indeed if you use say a DVD quality .vob file format. A typical DVD
movie many run 4 to 8 GB, and that is a very long download on even a
5+ Mbps DSL or cable connection.

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