Topic: The Current Crop of Flash Based Video Sites ARE CRAP

[Cools]

Stupid Flash video sites are popping up almost daily now.

Now, as a "developer", whom is currently working on at least 3 sites that will use Flash, I LOVE Flash. When it's used PROPERLY.

These videos sites (like youtube) don't.

The whole point of having Flash video is if you want to do the following:

1) Offer user/video interactivity (ie. embed video into your site and have users interact with it and dictate site usage),
2) Offer simple and cheap "on-demand" video (users don't need specific apps or codecs to play, no need to pay for expensive web streaming solutions),
3) Prevent users from stealing your work or copyrighted content.

Now take YouTube (or any video site now); do they offer much "advanced" functionality to users? They all use basic video players, you have a play and a stop button. Umm.. yeah, all that could've been done without Flash. Ok, so maybe it's the on demand video. Again, nothing new here. Ok ok, yes, if you dig deep enough it can all be done without Flash, but having done Flash, yes, there are many advantages to use it for that. So moving on....

What about copyrighted content? On YouTube it's all about user submitted content and copyright shouldn't have anything to do with that. So why then on this damn Earth are their now "download" links ANYWHERE on these sites?

I JUST DON'T GET IT!

Deep down, all of these FLV files came from submitted MOV, WMV, AVI, etc. files. Why then can't I download these instead? Why must I constantly have to wait for the stupid thing to buffer completely for good playback when I could've just downloaded the file to my computer. Even if you add possible advertising models (like putting ads before videos, which is much easier to do with Flash), that still don't mean you can't offer a simple download link!

Gah, this annoys me to no end! That's why, all of you YouTubes, MetaCafes are STUPID!

Ok, thank you Google for at least offering GVI downloads, eventhough they are just butchered AVIs... Maybe now that Google owns YouTube, they'll add at least FLV downloads...

BURN!

[Ace_O_Spades]

my cat's breath smells like cat food

[Cools]

*snap*

[Ace_O_Spades]

*snap*

*crackle*

[WindAndConfusion]

1) Your argument sucks. Like you said, the point is to side-step compatibility issues.

2) ... _^*psst_^* 

[Pugnate]

You sound so much like Xessive, Cools.

[Cools]

1) Your argument sucks. Like you said, the point is to side-step compatibility issues.

2) ... _^*psst_^* 

My point is that even if you use Flash video, it doesn't mean you can't offer a simple download link to the MOV, WMV, FLV, whatever...

Firefox is old, all hail Safari!

You sound so much like Xessive, Cools.

Hahah 

[Xessive]

Haha it's funny coz I generally agreed with everything Cools said

All but one! Firefox RULES! Safari is ok, but it's only on Macs. Firefox has way more options and versatility anyway.

[Antares]

What about copyrighted content? On YouTube it's all about user submitted content and copyright shouldn't have anything to do with that. So why then on this damn Earth are their now "download" links ANYWHERE on these sites?

Ummm... because YouTube is smart?  They want people to be forced to go back to YouTube every time they access the video. It keeps the media centralized and prevents people from easily hosting the content on their own.  It has nothing to do with copyright, but keeping people comming back to YouTube every time they want to see a video.

[Cools]

That still doesn't mean they can't provide downloads. Even if they allowed downloading, people would still continue to visit the site. Just because you have the video on your hard drive, doesn't mean you'll go and start hosting it on your own.

And even if you did bother to P2P it or whatever, that's why you have video watermarks... If people started spreading the video, with the watermark, that's even more spread of your content, which would mean more unique visits with the fraction of badwidth costs.

But again, I'm talking about delivery methods and nothing more. It's simple web usibility here... After all, what good is a video if I have to wait forever for it to start streaming (progressive download to be exact), not to mention have to keep the web page in focus for it to play without stuttering...

Also, in the case of YouTube, if all the cared about is to make sure people keep visiting their web pages, why do they allow embedding (and playing) of their video from any other site without having to go back to YouTube?