ABC.com limits video content to Windows and Mac users

Feb 12, 2009, 18:06 (18 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by Doug Roberts)

[ Thanks to Doug Roberts for this link. ]

I recently saw a story on Slashdot.com about how CBS.com has placed all of the original Star Trek series up for on-line viewing. Note was made that their flash-based viewer works well with Linux.

There are several excellent examples of sites that do it right, providing video content using flash-based players that do an excellent job of providing TV shows, movies, and other videos to any flash-enabled browser. Here are a few that I recommend:

http://www.hulu.com/
http://www.joost.com/
http://www.veoh.com/
http://www.cbs.com/

CBS.com in particular provides much of their content in a 720 pixel HD format that gives the viewer excellent HD image and sound quality. With *no* OS restrictions.

On the other hand, there is one TV provider, ABC.com, that chose the backwards-thinking approach of limiting browser content to specific OSs. ABC.com's new viewer is Windows/Mac-only, and as a result here are now millions of Linux users such as myself who are locked out from viewing their content.

Here's a link that demonstrates this:

http://abc.go.com/player/index?pn=index&showId=157146

Perhaps the good folks at ABC.com could benefit from a little feedback from members of the Linux community about their limiting approach to providing internet video content.

In the mean time, however, enjoy watching TV, movies, music videos, and more from those other excellent providers listed above.

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