More directly relevant to the material in this chapter is the
need to converge on coding and presentation formats for
video in this new video everywhere environment. As one
example of the challenges in this department, consider the
fact that three of the largest players in video streaming
(Microsoftr, Adober, and Appler) have each developed different
protocols for streaming video from websites to browsers.
Users can mostly get around these incompatibilities today by
installing appropriate plug-ins on their browsers, but the situation
gets decidedly messier on less flexible devices such as mobile
phones. With the emergence of Internet-capable televisions and set-top
boxes, incompatible video formats seem likely to be a continuing source of
irritation for consumers.