5 ms·

How does the title call out the video element as "effectively unusable" when in the end Gruber actually crafts a page that works with the video element? Sure,

How does the title call out the video element as "effectively unusable" when in the end Gruber actually crafts a page that works with the video element? Sure, no client respects the autobuffer attribute, and there's no way to use a poster image without resorting to javascript, and you have to encode the video two different ways. But it still works. It works even if you stick to one format (you're just excluding clients) or don't play the javascript-dom-switchout game (the video autobuffers, you don't get a poster image at all). Better title: HTML5 Video Element Has Glaring Issues, but Usable.

pohl 17y ago
If you look up "effectively" in the dictionary, it means "in such a manner as to achieve a desired result". The author highlights the desired result of requiring the user to click on the poster before buffering is allowed to begin. He currently cannot achieve the result he desires. The title makes sense to me.
- latortuga 17y ago
  As a result of his rather drawn out explanation, however, it appears as though he can achieve the result he desires, just not as simply as he would like and in a manner he'd rather make fun of than use. I understand complaining that about the lack of a feature that everyone seems to agree is decent and desirable, not to mention spelled out in the specification but it is not relevant to that specific discussion to complain that "you can't do X" when you can in fact do X.
  - pohl 17y ago
    I don't see anywhere in the article or in the title where he says that you can't do X. One needs to, again, sweep the author's qualifier "effectively" under the rug in order to construct that straw-man. The title says that you can't effectively do X using Y. I don't see how the fact that one can do X by instead using A and B in combination with Y invalidates that statement, especially with all the hype built up around Y as the savior of all from the evils of F. It doesn't feel right to drop carefully-chosen words in order to wage a critique.
    - maggit 17y ago
      Sorry, I am not a native English speaker, but to me it seems the author claims that using Y, you effectively can't do X. This, in contrast to your formulation, means that the effect of certain properties of Y is that X is impossible to achieve. My interpretation agrees with the Webster's dictionary's (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/EFFECTIVELY http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/EFFECTIVELY) first definition of "effectively": "in effect : virtually <by withholding further funds they effectively killed the project>". (There are other ways of killing the project more effectively) I agree with you in the sense that the author goes on rambling about how he is unable to achieve X as effectively ("in an effective manner <dealt with the problem effectively>") as he would like, but this is not the claim he has made in the title.
      - DougBTX 17y ago
        So, your complaint is that he used x is effectively unusable Instead of x is unusable effectively As a native speaker, I would note that English is a flexible language, that the second phrase in a heading would sound odd, and therefore let the first phrase stand for either saying as the meanings are so close together anyway. As far as markup is concerned, he used an img tag, not a video tag, so he couldn't use the video tag in the markup, at which point either meaning is perfectly valid.
      - pohl 17y ago
        This, in contrast to your formulation, means that the effect of certain properties of Y is that X is impossible to achieve. I can see how it might appear that way, but take note of the word "virtually" in the Webster's definition. It's an unfortunate word, because it undermines the absolute strength of the word it modifies...which, in your case, would be the word "impossible" (had you not dropped the word "virtually" from your paraphrasing, that is). Here's another example that shows someone else using the word in the same way that this author does. His system is copying files very slowly, and while technically his system is able to copy files, he feels it can't effectively be used for that purpose, even though a more patient person might disagree: http://www.vistax64.com/vista-performance-maintenance/120356-slow-file-transfer-effectively-cant-copy-move-files.html http://www.vistax64.com/vista-performance-maintenance/120356...

pohl 17y ago

If you look up "effectively" in the dictionary, it means "in such a manner as to achieve a desired result". The author highlights the desired result of requiring the user to click on the poster before buffering is allowed to begin. He currently cannot achieve the result he desires. The title makes sense to me.

latortuga 17y ago
As a result of his rather drawn out explanation, however, it appears as though he can achieve the result he desires, just not as simply as he would like and in a manner he'd rather make fun of than use. I understand complaining that about the lack of a feature that everyone seems to agree is decent and desirable, not to mention spelled out in the specification but it is not relevant to that specific discussion to complain that "you can't do X" when you can in fact do X.
- pohl 17y ago
  I don't see anywhere in the article or in the title where he says that you can't do X. One needs to, again, sweep the author's qualifier "effectively" under the rug in order to construct that straw-man. The title says that you can't effectively do X using Y. I don't see how the fact that one can do X by instead using A and B in combination with Y invalidates that statement, especially with all the hype built up around Y as the savior of all from the evils of F. It doesn't feel right to drop carefully-chosen words in order to wage a critique.
  - maggit 17y ago
    Sorry, I am not a native English speaker, but to me it seems the author claims that using Y, you effectively can't do X. This, in contrast to your formulation, means that the effect of certain properties of Y is that X is impossible to achieve. My interpretation agrees with the Webster's dictionary's (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/EFFECTIVELY http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/EFFECTIVELY) first definition of "effectively": "in effect : virtually <by withholding further funds they effectively killed the project>". (There are other ways of killing the project more effectively) I agree with you in the sense that the author goes on rambling about how he is unable to achieve X as effectively ("in an effective manner <dealt with the problem effectively>") as he would like, but this is not the claim he has made in the title.
    - DougBTX 17y ago
      So, your complaint is that he used x is effectively unusable Instead of x is unusable effectively As a native speaker, I would note that English is a flexible language, that the second phrase in a heading would sound odd, and therefore let the first phrase stand for either saying as the meanings are so close together anyway. As far as markup is concerned, he used an img tag, not a video tag, so he couldn't use the video tag in the markup, at which point either meaning is perfectly valid.
    - pohl 17y ago
      This, in contrast to your formulation, means that the effect of certain properties of Y is that X is impossible to achieve. I can see how it might appear that way, but take note of the word "virtually" in the Webster's definition. It's an unfortunate word, because it undermines the absolute strength of the word it modifies...which, in your case, would be the word "impossible" (had you not dropped the word "virtually" from your paraphrasing, that is). Here's another example that shows someone else using the word in the same way that this author does. His system is copying files very slowly, and while technically his system is able to copy files, he feels it can't effectively be used for that purpose, even though a more patient person might disagree: http://www.vistax64.com/vista-performance-maintenance/120356-slow-file-transfer-effectively-cant-copy-move-files.html http://www.vistax64.com/vista-performance-maintenance/120356...