> We're approaching this from different angles. In the video world, .wmv is
> most certainly a web standard. And it was long before .flv (Flash).
But that
> has nothing to do with your complaint about porky animations on websites.
> But again, once the Flash is loaded, you shouldn't experience slowdowns.
>
> By the way, mpeg (1 or 2) isn't really a substitute for the newer mpeg 4
> codecs like wmv9. If for some unlikely reason you thought your audience
> would be comprised of Win98-era computers, then mpeg 1 or 2 might be
> appropriate. Your trouble starting a stream could have a variety of
causes,
> but it's not an issue with the wmv9 format.
WMV may be a standard for Windows video but it isn't universal. It's not
used seriously for pro video, either. Microsoft has Windows Media Player
for Windows. They don't develop for other platforms, and in the usual
Micro$oft paranoid manner, they don't provide all of the APIs for other
platforms so that third party apps can be fully functional. WMV9 isn't
fully open. As a result there are Windows-only features in sites whose
clueless authors thought that anybody could view. You use Windows, so
you wouldn't notice. Most people who visit a site that doesn't work just
leave. The site owners don't know unless it's a bank or something that's
absolutely necessary for the visitor/customer/employee to access. Then
they get complaints, maybe flames.
The main requirement for the Internet is universality. I'm talking about
web pages and features working for all fairly recent platforms and
browsers. The MPEG codecs are open, so players are available. The
objects are also fast enough to work. Not so with Flash. Flash objects
may be small, but they're slow. WMV objects are unreliable. They fail to
load or lose a stream after a short time. That's unacceptable. BTW,
Flash is much older than WMV9 or any other WM version, too. It began in
Macromind/Macromedia Director before it was spun off as a separate
program. At least the Director files loaded very quickly and ran
standalone on almost any ancient platform; but that was before Adobe ate
Flash--the company that also bloated Photoshop as soon as they bought it
from the Knoll brothers.
I don't pay for broadband so I can hassle with broken .wmv streams or
wait for Flash video to load. There's too many bad web authors and
authoring tools, using inappropriate features.
Fifteen years and we're back to the *World Wide Wait*. Thanks, Adobe.
Thanks, Microsoft. Thanks, clueless web authors. And thanks advertisers,
for using Flash for ads in my Flashblocked browsers.
Betty
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