Free, as in video (MSNBC vs. CNN)
CNN.com will make its existing online video offerings available for free beginning June 20 as it prepares a new video package that will cost money to watch.
CNN is redesigning its home page to prominently feature the free video, which currently can be found by clicking on small links marked “video.”
Yeah so, they mention like MSNBC’s video that is free too… but for some reason MSNBC video made an idiotic choice. Just use a computer that isn’t a Windows computer to view some video and you might see the most ridiculous message* from a web site you will ever see.
Here is a screen shot of what I see when attempting to view MSNBC’s “free video”. Check that out!
MSN Video does not support your computer’s operating system.
What kind of nonsense is that? MSNBC expects me to believe they can’t deliver video to a Macintosh?! I can view and play, oh, about 30 different graphic and video formats (at least) yet MSNBC chooses to tell me my operating system is not supported!!! My only response is expletive and this is a clear violation of simple content delivery.
First of all, it’s not my operating system that plays the video. It’s the video player, of which I have 5 installed: QuickTime (supporting what a dozen formats?), Windows Media, RealPlayer, VCLan, MPlayer — if they can’t just let me at the video then there is something harmfully wrong in their thought process with the design of their web site.
Perhaps I should pop a message for anyone with an msn domain saying “sorry, we can’t support your lunacy in design.”