Technology for Mortals

I’m pretty sure many owners of netbooks and lower end computers use Linux as their operating system and the required Silverlight 2 support is not available for them (Moonlight 2 is in pre-alpha). The standard (non-HQ) version only works with Microsofts Internet Explorer. I’m a bit puzzled as to why Microsoft isn’t listed as one of the sponsors, because they obviously bought exclusivity for that event. Just another example of how they push their technology to market to establish it as a standard.

Although George’s technical articles are usually superb, when it comes to CPU’s and operating systems, George is an Intel and Windows fanboy. So any article that pertains to anything Intel and Windows has to be taken with a little more than a grain of salt. He could care less if the growing linux share can’t access Silverlight files.

Why would anyone be interested in watching 720P on a 9 inch screen?

Web 720P is more like 480P content due to the low bitrate so it actually gives you a much better image than 480P video. Now Hulu has mostly 480P content and those look fine. YouTube unfortunately don’t give you a good middle ground and it’s either low quality or 720P. The ideal resolution for netbooks would be 1024×576 resolution. I actually wouldn’t mind if more sites encoded to that resolution but a lot of times you don’t have a choice as the user because the website makes the choice for you.

Hey linuxforme, Flash development has lagged on Linux as well. Microsoft is working on getting better support for Silverlight on Linux and mobile devices as well.

It just means trading one evil for another when it comes to broad platform support, since they’re both proprietary technologies. Only open standards have the capability of funneling efforts.

I’m also not convinced Silverlight is inherently faster than Flash Video, because the difference you measured for your HD clips is exactly what Microsoft estimates as the decoding performance advantage of VC-1 over H.264. So this is just a question of codecs.

It doesn’t improve security either, because Flash is already established and Silverlight won’t replace it. Using additional plugins can only erode system security.

And lastly, no sane person will wish to see another broadly used technology standard in Microsoft’s hands. Issues like compatibility, tight integration and rapid implementation unfortunately give them an edge in marketing their own standards, but diversity is nevertheless still in everybody’s best interest in the long run.

So Vincent, can you offer us a good open source alternative? One that offers the kind of copy protection (DRM) that the content producers want and one as robust as either Flash or Silverlight?

I wasn’t talking about open source, but open standards. I personally couldn’t care less about DRM – that’s the content industry’s self-imposed problem and the fact that it’s not implementable to the extent they desire without closed source obscurity only emphasizes the paradox in trying to sell goods and control their use at the same time.

There are open or semi-open standards for delivering rich content (SIML, SVG, JavaScript, etc.) and Microsoft pushing Silverlight to market surely doesn’t help encouraging support for those.

I don’t blame Microsoft for what they’re doing. This is their business model and it works extremely well for them. But they’ll survive without my support and as someone interested in and informed about technology, I choose to act responsibly and be cautious about wherever they want me to "go today".

SIML, SVG, JavaScript, etc aren’t workable alternatives Vincent. You can choose not to use flash or silverlight, but most consumers don’t really care so long as the technology does what they want it to do.

I’m not trying to speak for an anonymous consumer majority. Your blog suggests (by its title) to provide information about technology to the average user and I was commenting on an article that consists of indiscriminate praise for Microsoft’s Silverlight. I felt like mentioning the downsides would interest some readers.

I’ve read a few of your other posts and have to agree with linuxforme. I could come up with a couple of better suited titles for the blog now, but you’re apparently not prepared to openly admit your bias. Microsoft and Intel already have the biggest marketing budgets in the industry, so I fail to see the point in providing free advertisement for them on a private blog, but it’s your right as a blogger to follow whatever urges you might feel.

I’ve had my share of criticisms for Microsoft and Intel over the years, and I don’t need to rehash it every time one of you guys come out and scream bias.

You have a right to criticize Microsoft, though you’re wrong about many things. For one thing, the difference between Silverlight and Flash isn’t just the compression algortithm. I can play H.264 files just fine on netbooks using VLC or Media Player Classic and K-Lite Mega Pack with roughly comparable CPU utilization to VC-1. As for the alternatives you mention, they’re not alternatives at all and you’re ignoring this question by changing the subject and attacking my objectivity.

Your complaints about Silverlight boils down to the fact that you don’t like Microsoft’s market dominance rather than the actual technology itself. That may be fine for you, but it’s irrelevant to consumers because they don’t care about any your personal religious wars and they just want something that works.

1. Your article neglected to mention the downsides of the March Madness Silverlight initiative and I pointed them out in my initial comment.

2. You were defending Silverlight’s platform constraints with the similar history of Flash. So Silverlight’s obviously not an improvement in that regard, is it?

3. I questioned the two only other arguments you had in favor of Silverlight, which were better security and lower system requirements. The former I invalidated with simple logic and you don’t seem to dispute that. The latter is still questionable, because you don’t have an apples to apples comparison and Microsoft themselves attribute the performance advantage to the codec in use. I personally doubt that the negligeble (compared to the decoding) rendering part makes much of a difference. You won’t be able to prove that smooth HD playback on netbooks isn’t achievable with Flash technology by definition anyway, which would be the only way to warrant your claim of Silverlight’s technological superiority (see your other post’s title).

4. You were asking for alternatives, which is besides the point. A lack thereof doesn’t defeat Silverlight’s weak spots and – more importantly – it doesn’t relieve you of mentioning them, if you want to write an unbiased article.

There’s nothing religious about my ciriticism or a dislike for a company’s market dominance in general and I feel sorry for you if you honestly don’t realize that. I also feel sorry for your readers which you obviously see as an unreflecting herd of sheep with no sense of consequence. It now makes perfect sense that your articles try not to burden them with weighing the pros and cons of a technology or product for themselves.

1. I hardly call this an "article". Heck, I’ve spent more time responding to you than the orginal post which was just a quick "check this link out" post.

2. Siverlight is going to hit all the platforms it needs to hit, including mobile. Nothing more needs to be said.

3. You can’t use an argument that because people are still exposed to flash, then they can’t benefit from the added security of Silverlight. I also didn’t say that flash can’t ever be optimized; I merely stated that it WASN’T as optimized as Silverlight.

4. You show a consistent level of distain and disrespect for anyone who doesn’t share your dislike for Microsoft because you assume that the "herd" is simply too ignorant and/or intellectually challenged to share your views. I think it’s unfortunate that you show so much arrogance and self righteousness.

George, I don’t dispute that Flash is lagging behind on linux, but it is at least available and I can use it. Until Silverlight is available for linux, all linux users are locked out of any site that is exclusively Silverlight. That is my main point.

Silverlight does work on Linux. It is behind on development but it is being actively developed.

The Linux fanboiApple lovers always show when there’s a Microsoft anything post. It’s really a turnoff for average consumer joe like myself. Thanks for the post George.

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Mike B: I’m writing my comments on Windows Vista. I think I hardly qualify as a Linux fanboi that way.