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When did I bash Theora? There's a lot wrong with Theora, but it's irrelevant to the discussion: what matters is what people actually use. If today it came up
by DarkShikari 17y ago
When did I bash Theora?
There's a lot wrong with Theora, but it's irrelevant to the discussion: what matters is what people actually use. If today it came up that there was a big patent on JPEG, would you propose that the entire web stop using JPEG tomorrow?
No matter how good or bad Theora is, the internet will not simply drop the existing standard formats and switch. It doesn't work that way.
This is also why browsers should use system decoders: it would make it easier to use a different video or audio format, since one could use anything that people had decoders installed for. This would stop the internet from being locked into a single format.
- aw3c2 17y agoI get the impression that you constantly do, but I might be wrong. System decoders (while being a sensible idea) actually reminds me of the web before Flash when people simply embedded wmv, mov etc. Why did one stop doing that again? Because of too many incompatibilities. And that's where you would end again. A standard format is the best solution, it is a shame the W3C was not that bold.
- ZeroGravitas 17y agoIt's a bit disingenuous to claim to promote choice when you're fully aware that the "choice" would be h.264 and that network effects would then render this a de-facto standard.
- jdowdell 17y agoSystem-level video decoders were used in Macromedia Director during multimedia and early Internet days, but developers found it didn't work very well... you had to choose an architecture(s), then had to test for its presence and do version-detection, then handle the installation/support process for audience members who needed it. "Use the system's video" sounds attractive, but just pushes the problem down the stack. Your mileage may differ, but I've seen people try it before....