On 5 Feb 2007 at 15:50, Darcy James Argue wrote: > Is this a Windows thing? On Macs, if your web browser is set to use > QuickTime, playback of an MP3 file automatically begins as soon as > QuickTime thinks it can complete the file without interruption. In > other words, *every* MP3 you click on in a web browser is streaming > (by default). If you want to download the file, you have to use a > contextual menu (i.e., "Save to disk.")
Yes, that's exactly how it "works" on Windows, as well (assuming you're using the QuickTime plugin to play MP3s files, which I do). But on a practical basis, it just doesn't work. If I really want to hear an MP3, I pause the playback, let it download, and then play. The reason is exactly as David Bailey said: dialup is not fast enough to keep up with the playback, and the buffer is very quickly exhausted. My point stands: MP3s are not practical for playback on dialup without download or server-side streaming (which delivers just enough to keep up with the bandwidth available, and which therefore buffers more than QuickTime does from a straight download). And that's not even mentioning those who *don't* use the QT plugin for playing MP3s. They may have it worse. They may have it better. I don't know. -- David W. Fenton http://dfenton.com David Fenton Associates http://dfenton.com/DFA/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
