[thelist] Re: video on the web, how?

[Clive R Sweeney]

John Allsopp wrote:
> Aren't we supposed to be providing content that the widest group of
> people can use in ways that suit them best (rather than dictating how
> they view it)?
> 
> A Flash format would only be viewable in a Flash enabled browser.
> There must be some people out there who prefer to use Quicktime or
> Real or something.

Actually this seems to be a reason to use Flash rather than one of the 
other formats, since more users have Flash than any of the others. 
According to Macromedia's statistics (survey conducted Sept. 2004) -- 
http://www.macromedia.com/software/player_census/flashplayer/ -- well 
over 90% of users have a version of the Flash plugin that supports Flash 
video. Compare that to about 60% for QuickTime and RealPlayer and just 
over 50% for Windows Media Player. And, of course, for anyone who 
doesn't have it, the Flash plugin is a much smaller and thus much faster 
download than any of the others.

The other option, of course, is to provide the video(s) in a variety of 
formats and sizes and let the user choose. This means significantly more 
work and cost for the site owner and can be quite confusing to many 
users who don't really know which plugins they have.

-- 
Clive R Sweeney
Designshift | Durham NC