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Goodbye Silverlight

blog.smartbear.com

1–10 of 16 posts

Re: Goodbye Silverlight

#2
> To get the same quality and security in HTML5, there is a need to implement video extensions into the players via the use of DRM encryption and JavaScript to the Netflix servers.

This is completely disingenuous. DRM has nothing to do with security, and it is for sure not required to get the same quality.

On the contrary, DRM always compromises security and always reduces the quality of the content (in a sense of crippled usability).

Re: Goodbye Silverlight

#3
post #2

> To get the same quality and security in HTML5, there is a need to implement video extensions into the players via the use of DRM encryption and JavaScript to the Netflix servers. This is completely disingenuous. DRM has nothing to do with security, and it is for sure not required to get the same quality. On the contrary, DRM always compromises security and always reduces the quality of the content (in a sense of cr…

I agree that DRM compromises usability. However, I don't think the author meant that DRM would needs to be there in order to help out the quality.

Re: Goodbye Silverlight

#5
> Despite that issue, we want our videos streamed in high quality and securely

Based on the previous paragraph (about getting Netflix to almost work on Linux), I'm guessing that the "we" here is consumers of video, not producers or distributors. In which case, no, "we" do not give a rat's ass about whether our videos are streamed "securely."

"We" want to watch what we want to watch when we want to watch it. Content producers insisted on "security" and Netflix chose Silverlight as a short-term technical solution to that problem. No one else wanted it. We just tolerated it.

Re: Goodbye Silverlight

#6
Not sure why this is news now; Microsoft announced this back when Silverlight 5 was first supported back in December of 2011.

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Microsoft-support-Silverlight...

  > it actually says 2021 or the support lifecycle of each of the supported 
  > browsers, whichever is shorter. When IE 9 is no longer supported you can 
  > pretty much consider Silverlight unsupported as well.
... though technically there are +'s next to the alternative browsers (Firefox 3.6+, Safari 4+, Chrome 12+) so there's plenty of wiggle room left for interpretation.

Re: Goodbye Silverlight

#7
post #2

> To get the same quality and security in HTML5, there is a need to implement video extensions into the players via the use of DRM encryption and JavaScript to the Netflix servers. This is completely disingenuous. DRM has nothing to do with security, and it is for sure not required to get the same quality. On the contrary, DRM always compromises security and always reduces the quality of the content (in a sense of cr…

It is required to get the same quality if the suppliers of your quality content won't give it to you without it.

Re: Goodbye Silverlight

#8
post #6

Not sure why this is news now; Microsoft announced this back when Silverlight 5 was first supported back in December of 2011. http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Microsoft-support-Silverlight... > it actually says 2021 or the support lifecycle of each of the supported > browsers, whichever is shorter. When IE 9 is no longer supported you can > pretty much consider Silverlight unsupported as well. ... though technically th…

The reason it's being talked about is because Netflix's recent transition plan is a milestone--the only Silverlight application I knowingly use is finally going away.
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