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Before Youtube this was a thing, just as streaming radio was a thing before Pandora. You'd get a URL and the URL would stream radio or video instead of being a

Before Youtube this was a thing, just as streaming radio was a thing before Pandora. You'd get a URL and the URL would stream radio or video instead of being a website. Obviously the protocol descriptor would be different from HTTP/HTTPS.

Izkata 7y ago
It wasn't even just "a thing", it was the main way to share video on the web before youtube made flash players ubiquitous.
zeta0134 7y ago
With JavaScript and the ability to request partial content, the protocol descriptor can also be bog-standard HTTP. The player is doing the "streaming" work at that point. Most of the existing players are far more fancy, and will try to dynamically switch to a stable quality based on the connection, but if you're streaming a small video anyway, it can be really simple.
crazygringo 7y ago
Oh sure, I remember RealPlayer used streams like rtsp:// and mms://. Man, takes me back. But that all died out, it seems. So I get that history could have continued in that direction... but it didn't, I guess. It sure would have been interesting if it had, though.
mumblemumble 7y ago
TFA's use case is even simpler than that. It's, "Here, go fetch http://my.domain/some/mp4/file.mp4 http://my.domain/some/mp4/file.mp4 and play it." Which was also a common way to share video once upon a time, and something that still happens on occasion. But, realistically, I am guessing that the vast majority consumers would never think of it, and may not even have the ability to set that up. Uploading the video to YouTube is typically a much simpler way to get the job done these days, because it works off of things you likely already have and require only moderate technical skills, while setting up a server that can serve files over HTTP(s) on your home network is the kind of thing that would get your parents to start calling you a "computer whiz" in public again.

Izkata 7y ago

It wasn't even just "a thing", it was the main way to share video on the web before youtube made flash players ubiquitous.

zeta0134 7y ago

With JavaScript and the ability to request partial content, the protocol descriptor can also be bog-standard HTTP. The player is doing the "streaming" work at that point. Most of the existing players are far more fancy, and will try to dynamically switch to a stable quality based on the connection, but if you're streaming a small video anyway, it can be really simple.

crazygringo 7y ago

Oh sure, I remember RealPlayer used streams like rtsp:// and mms://. Man, takes me back. But that all died out, it seems. So I get that history could have continued in that direction... but it didn't, I guess. It sure would have been interesting if it had, though.

mumblemumble 7y ago

TFA's use case is even simpler than that. It's, "Here, go fetch http://my.domain/some/mp4/file.mp4 http://my.domain/some/mp4/file.mp4 and play it." Which was also a common way to share video once upon a time, and something that still happens on occasion. But, realistically, I am guessing that the vast majority consumers would never think of it, and may not even have the ability to set that up. Uploading the video to YouTube is typically a much simpler way to get the job done these days, because it works off of things you likely already have and require only moderate technical skills, while setting up a server that can serve files over HTTP(s) on your home network is the kind of thing that would get your parents to start calling you a "computer whiz" in public again.