Flash-based iPlayer is go
Simmer down, zealots
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UK Linux and Mac fanboys can afford to turn a lighter shade of puce today, as the BBC has opened the shutters on the Flash-based version of iPlayer, its seven day TV catch-up service.
It's also set to prove popular with Windows users who don't want the hassle of the buggy, DRM-locked download iPlayer.
The service has been swiftly put together over the last few months following a troubled beta launch for the flagship download client, and complaints from non-Windows licence fee payers that they were unfairly frozen out. The Flash streams can be viewed through any browser with Flash plugged in.
You'll need the latest version of Flash to watch in full screen, though the quality of the streams perhaps isn't up to that anyway, and your boss will see what you're doing.
You can check it out here. From what we've seen of it, it's very fast, decent enough quality, and won't swallow 100 per cent of your CPU's processes, as many find the download client's Kontiki P2P component does.
As we've said in the past, we reckon it'll prove a lot more popular than the download client, which is an unfortunately clumsy and anachronistic front end for a project with a bigger and laudable goal of on demand access to BBC programming via computers, set-top boxes, and mobile devices.
We noted a potentially significant development for broadcasters who aim to distribute their shows over P2P networks earlier this week, when Virgin Media began including uploads in its traffic management policy.
If other ISPs follow suit, viewers may be reluctant to use software that forces membership of a network that could quickly lead to their bandwidth being throttled. ®
COMMENTS
RE: @Mark
you wrote the perfect interchangeable comment:
/Quote:
A Windoze user accusing Mac users of being techo-illiterate.
Best laugh I've had all week - it obviously takes technical genius to use Lord Gates overpriced, insecure, bloated, buggy, DRM embuggered P.O.S.
/End Quote
A Mac-Olite user accusing Windows users of being techo-illiterate.
Best laugh I've had all week - it obviously takes technical genius to use Lord Steves overpriced, insecure, bloated, buggy, DRM embuggered P.O.S.
Remember oh poor Mac-Olite (aka iFanboi), it is you who stands convicted of being a brainwashed follower of an evangelistic cult!
Lets break this down point by point:
Overpriced - Mac costs far more than PCs and when you compare total cost of ownership, Mac is much more expensive when you factor in the lack of software available, limited choices in hardware and upgrades.
Insecure - must i point you to all of the El Reg articles referencing Mac security holes, including pron downloading trojans? having pointed out that Macs are also susceptible to viruses i would also like to draw your attention to the absolute lack of virus protection for macs
Bloated - http://lipidity.com/apple/cleaning-apps-mac-os-x/
It would seem Mac is a little bloated too, probably from all that hot air the Steve blows up its users asses...
Buggy - Please... search El Reg for the many stories of the famed OS X BSOD, it common knowledge that Macs have plenty of bugs, like trying to eject a CD and having to reboot up to 30 times just to get the disc out, all the while fearing you've lost everything on the computer! Macs are no more stable than PCs, and if you consider Macs will work only on a tightly controlled set of hardware, Microsoft wins the battle given its wide range of hardware it has to support.
DRM embuggered P.O.S. - Remember, it was apple whom brought DRM to the mainstream, can you say iTunes... I dare you to try to use iTunes songs on anything but an iPod...
So go on, oh brainwashed hypocrite of the IT world, grab yourself a Budlight, you've earned it!
brilliant on mac
Was just watching Armstrong and Millar via Opera on my MacBook. Quality is fantastic compared to Youtube and it came down almost realtime on my 1MB DSL connection, with just a minor blip at about 9 minutes in. I expect it'll get a lot slower once it gets popular, but that probably won't be too high a price to pay for an otherwise good service. They're probably kicking themselves for spending so much time and money on the full iPlayer app.
well done BBC, now no one will use it
Well this is irritating.
So because a minority of people couldn't use the p2p client, they replaced it with a flash player that means everyone can join in. Shame that its much much much lower quality and has on first attempts to use it an atrocious buffer problem.
Assuming the buffer problems go away, I still won't contemplate watching such low quality streams, and I doubt I'm that far removed from the average user.
If they must insist on this flash nonsense to shut up the microsoft-is-evil crew, why can't they do it in ADDITION to the p2p client, not instead of, as is the case with the content I currently want to veiw.
This is a classic case of ruining a perfectly good idea trying to keep everyone happy, and it will die as a result.
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