Comments on: [Video] Why deploy video with Flash instead of the other guys? http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/ Mike Downey is the Principal Evangelist for Platform Business Development at Adobe Systems and focuses on Adobe's platform technologies including AIR, Flash, and Flex. This is his personal blog. The views expressed on this site are his and his alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Adobe Systems, it's employees or partners in any way. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:54:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: Stephen http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-319 Stephen Wed, 05 Jul 2006 16:59:19 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-319 Mike, Any idea with regard to corporate user penetration between Flash and Windows Media Player? We have built something in Flash 7 Player and my customer is afraid that corporate users will not have or will be blocked (internal security) from downloading the plugin. These numbers are hard to find. Thanks! Stephen Mike,

Any idea with regard to corporate user penetration between Flash and Windows Media Player?

We have built something in Flash 7 Player and my customer is afraid that corporate users will not have or will be blocked (internal security) from downloading the plugin.

These numbers are hard to find.

Thanks!
Stephen

]]> By: Mike Downey http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-318 Mike Downey Mon, 14 Jun 2004 22:09:22 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-318 It's not bundled with every PC sold. I believe it's only bundled w/ Windows XP, which has around 51% share of the Windows PC market. MD It’s not bundled with every PC sold. I believe it’s only bundled w/ Windows XP, which has around 51% share of the Windows PC market.

MD

]]> By: Dave http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-317 Dave Mon, 14 Jun 2004 20:29:05 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-317 wait a minute. Are you saying that WMP all versions only add up to 61% total market penetration? That seems awfully low since it's bundled in with every windows pc sold. How can this be? wait a minute. Are you saying that WMP all versions only add up to 61% total market penetration? That seems awfully low since it’s bundled in with every windows pc sold. How can this be?

]]> By: George Anten http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-316 George Anten Tue, 27 Apr 2004 01:31:56 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-316 Well, my interest/question is really about on-the-spot upgrade rates. In other words, confronted with the requirement to upgrade their players to a new version, what percentage of Flash users do so, on the spot? Is it more like 5% or 50%?:-) Well, my interest/question is really about on-the-spot upgrade rates. In other words, confronted with the requirement to upgrade their players to a new version, what percentage of Flash users do so, on the spot? Is it more like 5% or 50%?:-)

]]> By: Mike Downey http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-315 Mike Downey Tue, 27 Apr 2004 01:17:28 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-315 According to our survey results, of the 7% of Web users surveyed who did not have the Flash Player 6 or newer, as much as 5% of them have some earlier version of the player. Windows XP comes with Flash Player 5 pre-installed, I believe. They may include Flash Player 6 with Service Pack 1 and/or Internet Explorer 6. The upcoming Service Pack 2 may also include one of the newer versions of the Flash Player (not sure). Also, Mac OS X comes with Flash Player. I think it's version 5 but it may be newer. According to our survey results, of the 7% of Web users surveyed who did not have the Flash Player 6 or newer, as much as 5% of them have some earlier version of the player.

Windows XP comes with Flash Player 5 pre-installed, I believe. They may include Flash Player 6 with Service Pack 1 and/or Internet Explorer 6. The upcoming Service Pack 2 may also include one of the newer versions of the Flash Player (not sure). Also, Mac OS X comes with Flash Player. I think it’s version 5 but it may be newer.

]]> By: George Anten http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-314 George Anten Tue, 27 Apr 2004 01:02:54 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-314 "The rate of adoption is rapid because it's small and doesn't require a change in the audience's viewing habits (no new browser to get used to, no operating system install, etc)." I'm not unimpressed by Flash penetration. :-) I have a narrow issue: We want to use some v6+ features not supported in v5. So I'm trying to figure out if there are any stats on how many users who already have Flash v4/v5 would opt to upgrade to the latest version on the spot. Has MM done any study on that? “The rate of adoption is rapid because it’s small and doesn’t require a change in the audience’s viewing habits (no new browser to get used to, no operating system install, etc).”

I’m not unimpressed by Flash penetration. :-) I have a narrow issue: We want to use some v6+ features not supported in v5. So I’m trying to figure out if there are any stats on how many users who already have Flash v4/v5 would opt to upgrade to the latest version on the spot. Has MM done any study on that?

]]> By: jd http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-313 jd Mon, 26 Apr 2004 16:24:43 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-313 Hi George, that "98%" and stuff isn't the number of players of that version, but the percentage of consumers tested who could immediately view a SWF7 file, a SWF6 file, and so on. (New players play old formats.) If you go to http://www.macromedia.com/software/player_census then you can see the progression across recent quarterly consumer audits. From what I understand the March audit should be published soon, and about half of consumers tested could view SWF7 files, over 90% could view SWF6 files, and few could not view any SWF by this point. The amazing stuff in all this is that rapid spread of new versions... it's not just that the Macromedia Flash Player is more widely distributed than any other web technology, but it's also much, much, much more up-to-date than any other web technology. The rate of adoption is rapid because it's small and doesn't require a change in the audience's viewing habits (no new browser to get used to, no operating system install, etc). Regards, John Dowdell Macromedia Support Hi George, that “98%” and stuff isn’t the number of players of that version, but the percentage of consumers tested who could immediately view a SWF7 file, a SWF6 file, and so on. (New players play old formats.)

If you go to http://www.macromedia.com/software/player_census then you can see the progression across recent quarterly consumer audits. From what I understand the March audit should be published soon, and about half of consumers tested could view SWF7 files, over 90% could view SWF6 files, and few could not view any SWF by this point.

The amazing stuff in all this is that rapid spread of new versions… it’s not just that the Macromedia Flash Player is more widely distributed than any other web technology, but it’s also much, much, much more up-to-date than any other web technology. The rate of adoption is rapid because it’s small and doesn’t require a change in the audience’s viewing habits (no new browser to get used to, no operating system install, etc).

Regards,
John Dowdell
Macromedia Support

]]> By: George Anten http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-312 George Anten Mon, 26 Apr 2004 12:02:49 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-312 "We haven't posted the updated stats yet, but we announced publicly at NAB that - as of March '04 - Flash Player 7 has reached roughly 52.5% worldwide penetration." I'm not good with numbers :-) but if Flash 6 is at 98% and Flash 7 is 53% how do you reconcile those numbers? They don't add up. I was hoping for a simple chart: Total Flash users, v7 users, v6 users, v5 users and so on that would add up to 100%. "To expand on that, do you have full creative control for creating custom interfaces and controls for your video content with other media players?" It's been fairly trivial to create elaborate skins/interfaces/controls for QuickTime for years. “We haven’t posted the updated stats yet, but we announced publicly at NAB that - as of March ‘04 - Flash Player 7 has reached roughly 52.5% worldwide penetration.”

I’m not good with numbers :-) but if Flash 6 is at 98% and Flash 7 is 53% how do you reconcile those numbers? They don’t add up. I was hoping for a simple chart: Total Flash users, v7 users, v6 users, v5 users and so on that would add up to 100%.

“To expand on that, do you have full creative control for creating custom interfaces and controls for your video content with other media players?”

It’s been fairly trivial to create elaborate skins/interfaces/controls for QuickTime for years.

]]> By: Mike Downey http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-311 Mike Downey Mon, 26 Apr 2004 07:25:02 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-311 Hi Bobby - I hear what you're saying. I think you can look at the context of my comment, "And WHY MUST VIDEO ALWAYS BE A SEPERATE EXPERIENCE FROM THE REST OF THE WEB CONTENT???" and see that I am clearly exagerating to make a point. Can you embed other media players inline with your other HTML content? Yes. However, I've found that this is rarely done. To expand on that, do you have full creative control for creating custom interfaces and controls for your video content with other media players? I'd have to argue that the answer is no. If you check out some of the more popular sites serving up video content I think you'll find that the majority of them tend to seperate their video content from the rest of the site via pop-ups and use of the SA players. My guess as to why is that the media player penetration numbers are so low that web sites are afraid to embed video inline with the rest of their HTML. So, instead, they use pop-ups to manage scenarios where users do not have the player. This is much less common with sites using Flash for video. I know what you're saying, but I'm speaking from my own experience, which may be different than yours. I've spent weeks cataloging sites that deploy video and I've become increasingly aggrivated by the way video is deployed on the Web. As for the other capabilities of media players, I agree that they come with more "turn-key" functionallity, but I find that to be largely irrelevant to the general browsing public that just wants to watch video on the Web. Plus, short of DVD support, Flash can do all of the things that you mention. I'll stipulate that this is all arguable, but I think the advantage goes to Flash. And as I learned last week, many, many video pros are starting to feel the same. Hi Bobby -

I hear what you’re saying. I think you can look at the context of my comment, “And WHY MUST VIDEO ALWAYS BE A SEPERATE EXPERIENCE FROM THE REST OF THE WEB CONTENT???” and see that I am clearly exagerating to make a point. Can you embed other media players inline with your other HTML content? Yes. However, I’ve found that this is rarely done. To expand on that, do you have full creative control for creating custom interfaces and controls for your video content with other media players? I’d have to argue that the answer is no.

If you check out some of the more popular sites serving up video content I think you’ll find that the majority of them tend to seperate their video content from the rest of the site via pop-ups and use of the SA players. My guess as to why is that the media player penetration numbers are so low that web sites are afraid to embed video inline with the rest of their HTML. So, instead, they use pop-ups to manage scenarios where users do not have the player. This is much less common with sites using Flash for video.

I know what you’re saying, but I’m speaking from my own experience, which may be different than yours. I’ve spent weeks cataloging sites that deploy video and I’ve become increasingly aggrivated by the way video is deployed on the Web.

As for the other capabilities of media players, I agree that they come with more “turn-key” functionallity, but I find that to be largely irrelevant to the general browsing public that just wants to watch video on the Web. Plus, short of DVD support, Flash can do all of the things that you mention.

I’ll stipulate that this is all arguable, but I think the advantage goes to Flash. And as I learned last week, many, many video pros are starting to feel the same.

]]> By: Bobby R. http://madowney.com/blog/2004/04/25/video-why-deploy-video-with-flash-instead-of-the-other-guys/#comment-310 Bobby R. Mon, 26 Apr 2004 06:49:38 +0000 http://madowney.com/blog/?p=40#comment-310 I think the argument of other streaming players being separate media experiences is not totally correct. You can embed video/audio from any of the players into your html document. Flash is embeded also so I find this an unfair comparison. Plus, Windows Media Player, Quicktime and Real are also players for media content that's not only web/streaming content. They are used as mult-purpose players. They play local music, cds, videos, DVDs, etc. They also organize and manage a Music Library. There is a big difference between a desktop application and a player that plays web content. I think the argument of other streaming players being separate media experiences is not totally correct. You can embed video/audio from any of the players into your html document. Flash is embeded also so I find this an unfair comparison.

Plus, Windows Media Player, Quicktime and Real are also players for media content that’s not only web/streaming content. They are used as mult-purpose players. They play local music, cds, videos, DVDs, etc. They also organize and manage a Music Library.

There is a big difference between a desktop application and a player that plays web content.

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