Re: Ogg Audio and SMIL 2 Success

Rob Lanphier wrote:
> 
> At 12:43 PM 11/5/01 -0800, Jose Ramirez wrote:
> >Are there any plans to have an Ogg audio plug-in for RealONE?
> 
> The Xiph Foundation has been working on an Ogg Vorbis plugin for RealOne
> Player, which is available from their CVS repository in a alpha quality
> form.  If you have C++ coding skills, I'm sure they'd appreciate your help
> in moving development of this plugin forward.

Hello Rob. I would if I could.
 
> >I think that's what's missing and keeping SMIL from becoming as popular
> >as HTML.
> 
> I disagree that Ogg Vorbis support is a gating factor for increased
> popularity of SMIL. 

Would HTML be as popular as it is, if browsers only had support of
proprietary image
formats? When a document can be made with open W3C's standards and
non-proprietary, free 
media formats. That document is yours, it's your property, no body can
make it obsolete.
That's when a person can take the time to polish it and make it the best
they can.



> Ogg Vorbis hasn't yet made noticable gains on MP3 in
> terms of adoption.  That may change in the future, and at that point, it
> will be important for SMIL implementations to support the format.

I think the measuring of support should start when Ver 1.0 of Vorbis is
out.
So far it's sounds pretty good.

> >There should be billions of SMIL pages just like HTML.  By adding Ogg, a
> >SMIL page can have the same qualities as an HTML page.
> 
> I certainly hope that SMIL continues to become more popular.  However,
> comparing HTML to SMIL is a bit of an apples to oranges comparison.

I see it this way, HTML gave everyone the power of a newspaper /
magazine.
I don't think anyone predicted there would be billions of pages of HTML
on the Web.
SMIL 2 gives everyone the power to express an idea, like a TV
commercial.
No one knows if they'll be a billions of SMIL pages made, but if the
SMIL player can match the qualities of a HTML browser, the stage is set.

> >The time and effort put in a SMIL page will be time well spent, because
> >that page will have been built on open W3C standards and media that are open
> >and free. Media like jpg, png, SVG, and Ogg, where one doesn't have to
> >worry about the format becoming obsolete next year or licensing issues.
> 
> Certainly, we're big advocates of technologies with clear and reasonable
> licensing.  There's nothing clearer, or more reasonable than "free" (at
> least, from a customer's perspective).
> 
> Rob

If there's billions of SMIL pages on the Web, everybody benefits :)

Jose Ramirez

Received on Tuesday, 6 November 2001 10:05:05 UTC