D-oh! Don't you hate it when you accidentally hit send before you've finished an email. *sigh*
> From: Warren Jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > I agree with Matt about standards but at least QT would be more > equally cross platform than WMP and less a pain than Real. Considering Quicktime has quite likely passed Windows Media now as the leader in the streaming media market with Real a distant last based on the stats I've seen and as Quicktime is the poster-child (or perhaps that should be mother) of MPEG-4 (as MPEG-4 uses the Quicktime file format), I think there is a HUGE argument for Quicktime *and* MPEG-4 together. Back in June 2004 these were the stats: http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,116589,00.asp "Apple, Microsoft, and RealNetworks account for 99 percent of the streaming media market, according to market research firm Frost & Sullivan. While Frost & Sullivan declines to comment directly on specific numbers, a recent report from the researcher shows Microsoft Windows Media at 38.2 percent; QuickTime with 36.8; and Real with 24.9 percent." At that time, Quicktime was the format accelerating it's marketshare with WM stagnant and Real rapidly dropping off the radar. Today with the huge success of iPods and the iTunes Music Store (and the fact that with every copy of the "trojan horse" iTunes installed on a PC, Quicktime comes along for the ride), I am itching to see what the numbers say now. Darwin Streaming Server or Quicktime Streaming Server sending out MPEG-4 streams is a win-win for standards and Apple and considering the Darwin Streaming server is free and runs on Linux and Windows Server hardware, and has either the first or second largest marketshare - the ABC and others really have no excuse not to offer it IMHO. :-) -Mart
