3 ms·

You cannot watch Netflix/Hulu/Whatever because they refuse to provide their video in the standards-compliant way. This is not a technical problem.

by dchest 15y ago

JeremyBanks 15y ago
Is there an existing standards-compliant way to stream video cross-platform? Does it support DRM? There's certainly a technical factor here, even if the media ecosystem is also to blame.
- dchest 15y ago
  There is a standards-compliant way to deliver video. It's not streaming, but their use doesn't require streaming. There's, thankfully, no web standard for DRM. For an example of standards-compliant way to deliver video, turn on HTML5 support on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/html5 http://www.youtube.com/html5) and watch this awesome movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jVlt-d8W8&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jVlt-d8W8&feature=watch... See, no technical issues.
  - tadfisher 15y ago
    Just to be pedantic, I experience technical issues with HTML5 playback in Chromium 17 on Linux. The video seems to be playing at 1.5x speed, and sound is extremely choppy. Flash works fine.
    - DrJokepu 15y ago
      The support for the audio and video elements in browsers is still rather basic and unreliable. Shockingly enough, in my experience at least, IE9 has the best support for HTML5 audio / video, with Safari on OS X (not Windows) being second best.
mikeryan 15y ago
Netflix/Hulu aren't making these decisions unilaterally. They have to meet DRM requirements set by the Studios. You seem to want to demonize Netflix/MS/Google/Hulu for this but I'm having a hard time doing so when they seem to be trying to evolve standards to meet current market conditions.
- dchest 15y ago
  I really, really don't care about their relationship with their business partners. And you should not care about this too. If they are pushing for standards that limit our freedom, I will blame them. From my point of view, they should pressure "Studios" to get rid of DRM for their own good. If they instead make us suffer from DRM I will demonize them as much as I can with the goal of informing public of their evil actions and/or taking them out of business.
  - CJefferson 15y ago
    I do not see how a "pay monthly" system like Hulu or netflix streaming could work on a system without DRM, where people could simply sign up for one month and download all the videos they could ever want to watch. Do you have a suggestion, or do you think such systems should simply sink? What should replace them?
    - sciurus 15y ago
      People can already download via bittorrent more videos than they could ever watch. Streaming services don't have to compete with that to be successful.
      - Silhouette 15y ago
        > People can already download via bittorrent more videos than they could ever watch. Perhaps, but not in a way that is hard to distinguish from legitimate use technically and/or legally.
  - notJim 15y ago

You cannot watch Netflix/Hulu/Whatever because they refuse to provide their video in the standards-compliant way. This is not a technical problem.

by dchest 15y ago

You cannot watch Netflix/Hulu/Whatever because they refuse to provide their video in the standards-compliant way. This is not a technical problem.

JeremyBanks 15y ago

Is there an existing standards-compliant way to stream video cross-platform? Does it support DRM? There's certainly a technical factor here, even if the media ecosystem is also to blame.

dchest 15y ago
There is a standards-compliant way to deliver video. It's not streaming, but their use doesn't require streaming. There's, thankfully, no web standard for DRM. For an example of standards-compliant way to deliver video, turn on HTML5 support on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/html5 http://www.youtube.com/html5) and watch this awesome movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jVlt-d8W8&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17jVlt-d8W8&feature=watch... See, no technical issues.
- tadfisher 15y ago
  Just to be pedantic, I experience technical issues with HTML5 playback in Chromium 17 on Linux. The video seems to be playing at 1.5x speed, and sound is extremely choppy. Flash works fine.
  - DrJokepu 15y ago
    The support for the audio and video elements in browsers is still rather basic and unreliable. Shockingly enough, in my experience at least, IE9 has the best support for HTML5 audio / video, with Safari on OS X (not Windows) being second best.

mikeryan 15y ago

Netflix/Hulu aren't making these decisions unilaterally. They have to meet DRM requirements set by the Studios. You seem to want to demonize Netflix/MS/Google/Hulu for this but I'm having a hard time doing so when they seem to be trying to evolve standards to meet current market conditions.

dchest 15y ago
I really, really don't care about their relationship with their business partners. And you should not care about this too. If they are pushing for standards that limit our freedom, I will blame them. From my point of view, they should pressure "Studios" to get rid of DRM for their own good. If they instead make us suffer from DRM I will demonize them as much as I can with the goal of informing public of their evil actions and/or taking them out of business.
- CJefferson 15y ago
  I do not see how a "pay monthly" system like Hulu or netflix streaming could work on a system without DRM, where people could simply sign up for one month and download all the videos they could ever want to watch. Do you have a suggestion, or do you think such systems should simply sink? What should replace them?
  - sciurus 15y ago
    People can already download via bittorrent more videos than they could ever watch. Streaming services don't have to compete with that to be successful.
    - Silhouette 15y ago
      > People can already download via bittorrent more videos than they could ever watch. Perhaps, but not in a way that is hard to distinguish from legitimate use technically and/or legally.
- notJim 15y ago