Microsoft Lover Blames Google for Bugs in His Beloved Program.
» Playing Google Videos In Windows Media Player » InsideGoogle » part of the Blog News Channel
Despite being an .avi file, a very standard video format, Windows Media Player can’t play it because Google has included in the file a bogus fourcc code in the file that WMP chokes on. Take that same file, change the file extension from .gvi to .avi, and almost every other video player can handle it, but for technical reasons, Microsoft’s can’t play it. It is such a specific and pointless change that it almost seems like Google changed the header code specifically to screw Microsoft.
A Microsoft lover finds a bug in Windows Media Player and blames it in a Google conspiracy. Like I’ve said before. When you can choose between consipiracy and circumstance, it’s almost always the later.
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Please explain to me how Google’s actions are anything but harmful to the user. They accomplish nothing good, and serve only to trick users into thinking they need Google’s software. Google altered a universal format to work only with its software, trying to create lock-in without actually developing anything new.
September 22nd, 2006 at 11:27 pm
I fail to see how Google altered a universal format when every player on the market EXCEPT Windows Media Player can play the file. Did it occur to you that maybe there is a bug in WMP that prevents it from playing a standard file?
I frequently use mencoder to rip my DVDs for the kids to watch in the car. I rip them to a very standard DIVX format using the freely available xvid codec.
Oddly enough, my DVD player, my PVP player, and every video player on Linux and Mac can play this file just fine. Windows Media Player however has issues with it until I install the xvid codec.
Have you tried installing the xvid codec codec for windows? It allowed me to play saved google videos on my test windows box without problems.