5 ms·

Bordering on off-topic, isn't this why YouTube needs to support more output formats?

mustpax 17y ago
It already does, but not overtly. The current iPhone YouTube app doesn't read FLV, YouTube re-encoded its whole video library to get on the iPhone.
- abossy 17y ago
  Are you sure about this? Wouldn't it be easier to write FLV support on the iPhone than to re-encode hundreds of millions of videos?
  - boundlessdreamz 17y ago
    youtube didn't re-encode videos to get on iphone. It just so happened that youtube wanted to provide High quality videos in h.264 format and iPhone supports it
  - scott_s 17y ago
    I think the problem there is Apple - they don't want Flash support on the iPhone. They haven't explicitly stated so, but I think they don't want it because it would give people the ability to develop full iPhone applications that don't go through their store and approval process.
    - wandermatt 17y ago
      That's also why they're never going to support HTML5, client-side storage, or geo-location in Mobile Safari.
      - natrius 17y ago
        The innovation-stifling effects of browser lock-in require development to be expensive. Any compelling product in such an environment will be built to maximize revenue, which requires those products to support as wide of a consumer base as possible. This makes it difficult to build products with new technologies. Today, development is cheap. Compelling products can be built as side projects with a minimal investment of time and money. If creators don't have to worry about making money with their creations, they're more likely to use whatever technology they feel like using. If Mobile Safari lags behind other browsers in implementing emerging web standards, many developers will run browsers that stay current, even if they have to buy a new phone to do so. When they come up with nifty ideas that are relatively easy to build, they'll use whatever technologies they want, which will occassionally be HTML5 and friends. After normal iPhone users come across enough neat hacks that their phone can't run because their phone can't support it, they'll switch phones. I doubt that Apple would let Mobile Safari lag behind other browsers, especially since they'll likely want desktop Safari to support emerging standards, but even if they did, it would be self-defeating.
      - tolmasky 17y ago
        Is this a joke? I honestly can't tell, because of all the following: - Mobile Safari already supports local storage - Mobile Safari already supports geolocation: http://geekswithblogs.net/MobileLOB/archive/2009/06/19/getting-location-on-a-mobile-webpage.aspx http://geekswithblogs.net/MobileLOB/archive/2009/06/19/getti... - Mobile Safari also already has other portions of HTML 5 implemented, such as canvas, not to mention really good coverage of css 3. So as it turns out shipping Mobile Safari already has much better HTML 5 support than many desktop browsers. You may be able to fault iPhone and Mobile Safari a lot of things, but standards support is certainly not one of them.
      - GHFigs 17y ago
        Sarcasm doesn't always go over well here.
      - scott_s 17y ago
        Fair enough - but I can't think of any other reason why Apple would reject Adobe's advances for getting Flash on the iPhone.

It already does, but not overtly. The current iPhone YouTube app doesn't read FLV, YouTube re-encoded its whole video library to get on the iPhone.

abossy 17y ago
Are you sure about this? Wouldn't it be easier to write FLV support on the iPhone than to re-encode hundreds of millions of videos?
- boundlessdreamz 17y ago
  youtube didn't re-encode videos to get on iphone. It just so happened that youtube wanted to provide High quality videos in h.264 format and iPhone supports it
- scott_s 17y ago
  I think the problem there is Apple - they don't want Flash support on the iPhone. They haven't explicitly stated so, but I think they don't want it because it would give people the ability to develop full iPhone applications that don't go through their store and approval process.
  - wandermatt 17y ago
    That's also why they're never going to support HTML5, client-side storage, or geo-location in Mobile Safari.
    - natrius 17y ago
      The innovation-stifling effects of browser lock-in require development to be expensive. Any compelling product in such an environment will be built to maximize revenue, which requires those products to support as wide of a consumer base as possible. This makes it difficult to build products with new technologies. Today, development is cheap. Compelling products can be built as side projects with a minimal investment of time and money. If creators don't have to worry about making money with their creations, they're more likely to use whatever technology they feel like using. If Mobile Safari lags behind other browsers in implementing emerging web standards, many developers will run browsers that stay current, even if they have to buy a new phone to do so. When they come up with nifty ideas that are relatively easy to build, they'll use whatever technologies they want, which will occassionally be HTML5 and friends. After normal iPhone users come across enough neat hacks that their phone can't run because their phone can't support it, they'll switch phones. I doubt that Apple would let Mobile Safari lag behind other browsers, especially since they'll likely want desktop Safari to support emerging standards, but even if they did, it would be self-defeating.
    - tolmasky 17y ago
      Is this a joke? I honestly can't tell, because of all the following: - Mobile Safari already supports local storage - Mobile Safari already supports geolocation: http://geekswithblogs.net/MobileLOB/archive/2009/06/19/getting-location-on-a-mobile-webpage.aspx http://geekswithblogs.net/MobileLOB/archive/2009/06/19/getti... - Mobile Safari also already has other portions of HTML 5 implemented, such as canvas, not to mention really good coverage of css 3. So as it turns out shipping Mobile Safari already has much better HTML 5 support than many desktop browsers. You may be able to fault iPhone and Mobile Safari a lot of things, but standards support is certainly not one of them.
    - GHFigs 17y ago
      Sarcasm doesn't always go over well here.
    - scott_s 17y ago
      Fair enough - but I can't think of any other reason why Apple would reject Adobe's advances for getting Flash on the iPhone.