I guess it’s time…

I’m giving up my fight and I guess I’m going to start Tweeting on a regular basis. Which is to say more than the three times I have in the previous year. Follow me (or not) @dansokolow.

In the interim, for some genuine content, the fine folks who brought you the JWPlayer (a highly configurable and powerful embedded video player) have taken a close look at the state of HTML 5 and its impact on the online streaming video world.  The short version is that browser penetration is good, but until legacy IE browsers pass from the scene coverage will still be partial.

As an aside, let me note that a decent chunk of those older browsers are living in corporate environments that can be slow to adopt. I’m aware of one organization that only shifted away from IE6 in the last year or so, when Microsoft is pushing IE9 – clearly they are running behind. Take a moment to ask about the state of your organization’s browser experience – are they keeping their employees chained to an old version?  How much are they missing due to outdated technology? My own involvement in online video began with a simple question – what version of Windows Media Player is the organization’s standard? The answer made me the video guy I am today, so sometimes out of date technology can help the universe. 🙂

Back to the report on HTML 5 – there are a number of specific functions that are not supported completely by all browsers, but it’s safe to say the three biggies (covering 75% of the market) – IE, Chrome, and the sadly fading Firefox – will meet all needs going forward. Read the rest of the report for more details.