A streaming video follow-up

Well, I'd written to the Welsh TV channel (S4C) and told them that I didn't think that they could justify telling their viewers that they needed Windows media player when I'd just proved that you could use at least three others on Windows and four others on Linux, and fair play they had altered their wording a bit. They changed it to say that other players were available for non-Windows platforms, but that there was no guarantee that they'd work, or that they would support sub-titles.

I confess that this annoyed me a bit. Firstly, I thought that they were deliberately avoiding saying that there were other players available for Windows, and secondly I thought that it was a bit rich to suggest that these other pieces of software somehow might not work. So I wrote again and also translated my feelings to English for the benefit of the developers of Microsoft's rivals, to whom I sent the following:

I've just got annoyed with my favourite TV channel because of their treatment of non-WMP video players. I thought you might at least like to know what's being said, even though I doubt very much that there's anything anyone can do about it.

The story's a long one, so I'll cut it short.

I'm referring to the Welsh TV channel, S4C. Until recently they said on their website, "You will need Windows Media Player" in order to watch their programmes. I pointed out to them that in my experience at least the following worked on Windows:

* xine
* MPlayer
* vlc

... and that those all worked on Linux too, along with Kaffeine, of course.

They have now changed their wording to the following:

"You will require a media player capable of playing windows media 9 files, such as Windows Media Player. Other players are available for non-windows platforms, but these aren't guaranteed to work, nor support subtitles (sami) files."

There are two things wrong with this in my view:

* The alternatives are not just for non-Windows platforms
* There is no reason to suppose that the alternatives are any less likely to work than WMP (except for the sub-titles, where they may be correct. I wouldn't know. I don't need them).

I've told them what I think, but I doubt if it will make a difference.

Guenter Bartsch, the main xine developer, wrote back and said that he understood that I was annoyed, but that perhaps we should accept that they were just trying to avoid having to support anything but the Microsoft software, and should just be happy that they'd altered their wording at all. He also pointed out, as I had when talking to S4C, that the main problem was in the use of proprietary codecs instead of public ones like Ogg.

And I thought that would be the end of it.

This evening, just out of a vain hope, I again accessed the S4C site: and guess what. Yep, they've altered their wording again. Here's how I announced the change to the South Wales Linux User Group:

S4C have now changed their site to read:

"Byddwch angen chwaraewr cyfryngau sydd yn gallu chwarae ffeiliau
Windows Media 9, er engraifft Windows Media Player. Mae chwaraewyr
eraill ar gael ond nid oes sicrwydd y bydd rhain yn cefnogi ffeiliau
isdeitlau (sami)."

That is ...
"You will need a media player that can play Windows Media 9 files, for
example Windows Media Player. Other players are available but there is
no certainty that these will support subititle files (sami)"

Fantastic.

No sooner had I sent this off, than an email dropped into my mailbox from S4C confirming that they'd changed their wording.

I have written back thanking them for their patience and saying that I could not have written it better myself.

Well done S4C. My faith is restored.