[playogg-discuss] Re: playogg-discuss Digest, Vol 13, Issue 2

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> >
> >> The problem is that many people know and prefer WMP, and because  
> >> ogg is so scarce, they don't bother.
> >
> > Now the question is which we should convince them first:
> > to migrate from WMP or to migrate to Ogg.
> 
> That is a good question. Personally, I think migrating to ogg first  
> would be ideal for most.  I think all we need is an increase demand  
> for compatibility of the ogg format in both software and hardware. If  
> we migrate to ogg, that will increase the demand. Migrating to ogg  
> also means it's free for anybody to access, regardless if it's easy to  
> use or not.

I've been subscribed to this mailing list for a long while. I read and
don't really have the time to add anything. I'm going to jump in here
though as I do spend allot of time on these issues.

As much as I want to see Ogg Vorbis succeed there are outstanding
problems that really need to be considered ahead of the Mp3 problem- I
think. Maybe I'm wrong here. This is my thinking though. Flash is as
essential component of the modern web and "everybody" needs it. We don't
have a viable free flash player still. I'm glad to see Gnash is coming
along and FINALLY reached 7.x compatibility with SWF 7... almost... that
key word being almost. We need to put energy into that project unless
the resources we have aren't suited for it.

Mp3 is hampered by patents that might be overturned and aren't
recognized in other countries other than the USA. It is almost free
already and may be sooner than we know without doing any work. Something
to think about. Another reason this may not be something worth spending
allot of energy on vs other projects.

Before I'd abandon it though I'd ask some questions:

How would we get Ogg Vorbis adopted? 

1. We need at least one Ogg Vorbis Portable Audio Player
2. We need a place people can buy it
3. We need marketing
4. We need a Music Store that offers it in Ogg Vorbis format

This may not be as insurmountable as I originally thought if you allow
the Audio Player firmware to be non-free. Something I dislike and
another reason I initially considered it insurmountable.

1. I think we have something. It may not be competitive to the iPod
although the iPod isn't what people make it out to be either.
Unfortunately we don't have anything that looks "cool" either. Of course
that is largely marketing too. Maybe something we can work on.

2. I can solve this problem. I'm the CEO of a start-up
www.thinkpenguin.com and another computer repair company
www.errtech.com. We offer repair services to three states so far and
sell our Penguin products & services to all 50 :). We currently have
operations in New Jersey, Louisiana, and Oregon. 

3. Once again... see #2.

4. Canonical's the only company with a music store containing music from
the major labels with the resources to offer it in Ogg Vorbis format- if
petitioned. By that I mean so few even operate a music store and those
that do wouldn't listen to our petitions. Canonical on the other hand
might. The first question though I think before anybody needs to ask
before petitioning is why they aren't already offering the music in Ogg
Vorbis given that Ubuntu doesn't come with Mp3 support. We may have
another issue to overcome and that issue is that Canonical simply
doesn't have any control over the format they are offering the music in.
If it were simply a technical matter it probably would have been done
already.


 Chris