Is YouTube On The iPhone A Monopoly?
Ever since its initial release in 2007, the iPhone – along with its sibling, the iPod Touch – have shipped with a YouTube app. The sole reason for this app’s existence is because the iPhone isn’t capable of displaying Flash content. That much we already know. Yet with such prominent support for YouTube, I’m surprised that competing video sharing sites aren’t protesting with the words “monopoly, monopoly, monopoly.” Yes, I believe that Apple and YouTube‘s parent company, Google, are behaving in a monopolistic fashion when it comes to video on the iPhone.
Flash – the background
Lets set some facts straight first: Flash is the format used to stream video content and display hyper-dynamic websites, among other things. Used by YouTube, Vimeo, Mevio, Hulu, Cnet, Ustream, Justin.TV, and countless other video websites, Flash is the most prevalent video delivery method on the web by a far cry. The only exception to the previous examples is Apple: it uses the beloved H.264 standard to deliver videos on its own website. But what’s important to note here is that Adobe has been trying, time in time again, to get Flash on the iPhone, all to no avail: Apple has had multiple excuses as to why Flash on the iPhone can’t be a reality. The company has cited battery life and a lack in processing power as the two major items that prevent Flash from being available on the device.
Competing mobile operating systems such as Nokia’s Symbian OS, Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, and Palm’s WebOS, have all either announced support for, or have already delivered devices that are capable of running the Flash Player. Today, the only Flash hold-outs are the Apple’s iPhone/iPod Touch and RIM’s Blackberry line. Given these facts, the effects of not being able to play back Flash on the iPhone are quite surprising, and even scary!
Streaming Video on the iPhone Read more »
Posted in Apple, Featured, Google, YouTube, iPhone
