Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 13th Jan 2011 06:32 UTC
"The promise of HTML5's video tag was a simple one: to allow web pages to contain embedded video without the need for plugins. With the decision to remove support for the widespread H.264 codec from future versions of Chrome, Google has undermined this widely-anticipated feature. The company is claiming that it wants to support 'open codecs' instead, and so from now on will support only two formats: its own WebM codec, and Theora." Sorely disappointed in Ars' Peter Bright. Us geeks reviled web developers for sticking to Internet Explorer when Firefox came onto the scene, and yet now, the same arguments we used to revile are used to keep H.264 in the saddle. How us mighty geeks have fallen.
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RE: What people should be asking
by SJ87 on Thu 13th Jan 2011 09:15
in reply to "What people should be asking"
Member since:2007-12-16
The really killer question is why aren't Microsoft and Apple supporting WebM or OGG? I mean it's not like they couldn't.
They are supporting it. Microsoft has already announced of an official WebM support for IE9 whereas Safari is able to support it if the user installs the codec for Quicktime.
I don't remember the situation with Ogg Theora, but I don't think missing it is going to be anything serious anyways. It's available as a plugin too, anyways.
Edited 2011-01-13 09:22 UTC
RE[2]: What people should be asking
by kaiwai on Thu 13th Jan 2011 09:26
in reply to "RE: What people should be asking"
Member since:2005-07-06
They are supporting it. Microsoft has already announced of an official WebM support for IE9 whereas Safari is able to support it if the user installs the codec for Quicktime.
I don't remember the situation with Ogg Theora, but I don't think missing it is going to be anything serious anyways. It's available as a plugin too, anyways.
I don't remember the situation with Ogg Theora, but I don't think missing it is going to be anything serious anyways. It's available as a plugin too, anyways.
Are you sure? I remember there was a leak that the latest build of Internet Explorer 9 supported Vorbis but I've heard nothing about WebM other than the statement that if a WebM 'Media Foundation' plugin is provided that Internet Explorer 9 will use it.
RE[2]: What people should be asking
by RichterKuato on Thu 13th Jan 2011 11:16
in reply to "RE: What people should be asking"
Member since:2010-05-14
Not in a meaningful way they don't. DirectShow and Quicktime don't come with any out of the box WebM or OGG support. So for all intents and purpose they only support H.264.
Until they do I call ball$ on their self-serving hypocritical war against dropped support for their favorite codec.
Features
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Member since:
2010-05-14
The really killer question is why aren't Microsoft and Apple supporting WebM or OGG? I mean it's not like they couldn't.
Why attack Google for choosing to drop support for H.264 when they are just as guilty of not supporting WebM/OGG?
Until at least DirectShow and Quicktime come with WebM and OGG this is no more than a few companies trying to raise a barrier to entry for web video.