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Apple pulls an Adobe, requires Apple Quicktime player but won't support it (rjsteinert.com)

50 points by rjsteinert ↗ HN
Today in my RSS reader I saw a link to the iPhone 4.0 official video and I thought, "Oh boy eye candy!" What I got was a big fat "Download Quicktime to view this video" message. My heart sank. Not because I wasn't going to be able to watch the video on my unsupported Linux platform, but because it was suddenly clear that Steve Job's rejection of proprietary video standards (Flash) was a total load of shit! Who is he to criticize Adobe for promoting a proprietary web video standard and then shove his own proprietary video standard down consumers' throats?

15 comments

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ugh
It’s not quite as simple as that – that becomes plainly obvious pretty fast in this related discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1411779

They seem to use the video-tag in some cases (Safari, maybe Chrome) but not in others. We don’t yet know how exactly they decide whether to use the video-tag or QuickTime.

The mystery isn’t yet solved so if anyone wants to help …

papachito
> They seem to use the video-tag in some cases (Safari, maybe Chrome) but not in others

Not chrome, only Safari. So yes, this is basically the same thing as forcing flash as you either have to change the browser, get a new OS if you're on linux, install a plugin, download the file manually or cheat your user agent. Not very "standard" friendly to say the least.

ugh
Some reported that video worked in Chrome without QuickTime. I couldn’t reproduce that myself.

– edit: Ah, I saw your response to my other comment. Thanks! That’s idiotic of Apple, then. I have to say, though, that I would care a lot more if Apple were YouTube or the New York Times. As is I don’t plan on consuming a whole lot of content on their website.

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pronoiac
This is a rant about Apple using Quicktime for video on their site.

I can view Quicktime on Firefox on Linux - while Flash only has one halfway decent player, Quicktime files are supported by many different tools & players.

papachito
I'm on Linux too, I can't view Quicktime unless I install illegal codecs.
usaar333
Exactly. Flash might be proprietary as well, but at least Adobe takes the time to write a binary plugin for Linux.
jorgecastillo
And what about alternative platforms tha don't have an Adobe flash plugin. Do you honestly believe that there only exist three OSes (Windows/Mac OS X/Linux)? At least I can download the .mov file just looking for it on the html source, I can't say the same for flash video.

P.S. I use OpenBSD as my desktop OS.

sqrt17
Medibuntu has made the step of installing codecs with shaky legal status incredibly easy. I used to cuss a lot more about video decoding in Linux.
angusgr
"illegal" seems like a stretch. I'm on Ubuntu Karmic w/ Chrome and it plays fine through the totem plugin, with no quicktime-specific packages installed.
alanh
I got the same thing in Chrome on OS X (however, I have all plug-ins disabled due to the current Flash vulnerability).

I can’t imagine this is anything more than an oversight that will soon enough be corrected. The copy on that page is a bit rough, too:

> Apple engineers designed the A4 chip to be a remarkably powerful yet remarkably power-efficient mobile processor. (emphasis mine)

I think the page was a rush job, somehow neglected and not up to the usual Apple marketing standard of quality.

russss
This video is working fine for me with Chrome on Linux.
mhw
Hmm; Linux in 'video just works' shock!
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GrandMasterBirt
I have no respect for companies who don't use their own crap. If Jobs wants anti-flash, use html5 like he said, if it is not viable, then stfu. However maybe flash on the IPHONE makes no sense, but then say that, not that flash sucks because html5 is open and flash is not.

At least adobe uses flash on their stuff. Actually I wish they didn't but it shows they are confident with their product.