NBC's Olympic video site leaves many out to dry

NBC's decision to go with Microsoft's Silverlight technology to power the NBCOlympics.com video service provided for some fantastic features, as Web Scout reported Friday. But it came at a price: writing off thousands of potential online viewers.

Apple computers more than a couple of years old -- including all iBooks and PowerBooks as well as some iMacs and Mac minis -- will not run Silverlight 2, the software underlying NBC's Olympics player. And computers running the Linux operating system -- an open-source alternative to Windows -- were also left out of the mix. When unlucky users try to fire up the video player to catch a few rounds of pingpong, they'll instead be greeted by a screenful of technical requirements that their computer doesn't meet. Next time you'll call it table tennis...

More widely available video applications like Windows Media Player aren't built to offer the same caliber of high quality streaming videos, said Eric Schmidt, director of media and advertising evangelism at Microsoft, in a video interview with tech commentator Robert Scoble. Time constraints too accounted for the decision to leave some users out, Schmidt said. "We wish we could do more...but at the end of the day, we're trying to serve millions of people. There's only so much you can get done before you just run out of time."

But in dozens of comments on our initial post, unhappy Mac and Linux users thought NBC still should've provided a way for all Web surfers to watch Olympic clips.

"My feeling about Web usability is that when you have something that appeals to a number of people, you kind of want to go with the lowest common denominator," said Gina Cossman, a graphics designer from Texas who uses an iMac. She had expected the site would work with Apple's QuickTime or Adobe Flash, the ubiquitous platforms that power iTunes and YouTube, respectively. In her time of need, she turned to YouTube, resorting to bootleg Chinese broadcasts. "But within a couple hours, they were all gone," she said.

New Coke. (Photo credit: Mike Licht)

Does that mean piracy is the only alternative for desperate Oly fans?  (I mean, besides TV.) Ways to siphon Olympic video content are now being traded online like boosted minks.

A Microsoft spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail that while "a limited number of older systems" aren't able to access the Olympics site, the goal was to offer "the richest online viewing experience based on technologies broadly available today."

Our readers were less forgiving. Stro, for instance, scrawled: "I cant believe they would leave so many computers without access for web video on the olympics.... the guy who came up with this idea must have been the same idiot that came up with the idea to change the coke recipe in the 80s...."

Whoa, buddy, don't you think you're being a little too harsh?  Some of us liked New Coke.

-- Mark Milian

Mark Milian is an intern at latimes.com.

Comments

[Brett Johnson]

I love the "a few older systems" comment. Making it sound like they don't support these systems because they aren't up to the task. My PowerMac Quad G5, with 4 x 2.5GHz cores, 8GB RAM, 1.6TB SATA disk, and a 30 inch Cinema HD Display is more than capable of handling streaming HD video.

All my Macs at home are PowerPC based. The only Windows machines I own are ancient and run Windows 2000, so they don't qualify either.

I am really fed up with this NBC - Apple feud. Only their customers suffer.

[RJ]

This is ridiculous. If they can detect which operating system a user is running (which they can), then it is trivial to switch to a standard flash player if the OS doesn't meet the requirements for Silverlight 2.

[Hylas Ipsum]

That's *MS*NBC (MSNBC) ... MS stands for ?
Their excuse rings bogus.

Essential Components of Web Accessibility:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/components.php

hylas

[rcky]

At least New Coke didn't come with system requirements.

[Joshua Ferguson]

Well, it was a business move for Microsoft. I bet a few million people have downloaded SL in the past few days.

However many downloads it got, they still retain their image of the bullying software giant because of it. Next time at least offer it in flash /also/. Saves me the trouble of having to go torrent it, and would get NBC some ad revenue to boot.

MS thought they could trick us by showing up at OSCON and donating to Apache. Their true colors always show. . .

[No Microsoft products for me]

Both NBC and MSNBC have lost me as a viewer for the remainder of my life.

I am furious at this whole Silverlight NBCOlympics issue. I use Linux, and while I prefer free/open multimedia like ogg/theora, I give in and use Flash because a majority of sites use or require it for multimedia content.

Guess what, I can't watch the Olympics because I can't install Silverlight on Linux. Yes, I've heard of Moonlight, but I personally haven't found anyone who has got it working with the NBCOlympics site. I don't want to use a Microsoft product or any product related to Microsoft in the first place, even if it would work. I don't like the company and want nothing to do with them.

For the people who talk about what percentage of computer users use Windows, perhaps they should read some wonderful tidbits from history:

And I quote:

"MICROSOFT has consistently violated United States Antitrust Law." "MICROSOFT has illegally tied licenses of its operating systems to OEMs; sales of processors in computers"
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/ms_tuncom/major/mtc-00021587.htm

Start there, and it's not some random blog, notice the ".gov"?

Had there been more Operating Systems offered with sales of systems, perhaps the current situation would be different, but many people are jumping ship. I've been introducing and installing Linux for people all of the time, and each time they remark how wonderful it is. Education is the key.

Now, ask yourself if the situation with the OEMs is similar to the situation now with Silverlight. Here's an interesting news item:

"Library of Congress to use Microsoft Silverlight in $3 mil deal"
http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/02/29/library-of-congress-to-use-microsoft-silverlight-in-3-mil-deal

I remain disgusted.

[Dave]

Just watch the CBC coverage instead.

http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/

[Barius]

Well, I think the reason for this is quite obvious. Microsoft needed a way to get people to install Silverlight, and NBC was a greedy fool. I'll bet MS subsidized the whole thing for NBC (with kickbacks, likely) who thought they were getting a great deal. All the while MS was laughing their heads off knowing that viewers would blame NBC for the lack of support and service while MS scored a huge win by forcing Silverlight down the throats of millions of Olympic viewers.

[David]

The graphics NBC is using to highlight lane positions and leaders of the race obscures some important segments of the race. The start and turns on the leaders. I hope they change it for future events.

[TitanicX]

If you care enough to be heard, email NBC at nbcolympicsfeedback@nbcuni.com. I already have and i hope that all of you do as well1

[Al T]

Hair, if they offered it in Fash, how could you view it on your iphone? I thought Mr. Jobs said Flash was not good enough for his phone.

[Free Xbox 360 Elite]

Heh, I could load up the player to find that my local Cable provider did not buy in to the "LIVE" online TV. So it ended up being worthless anyway.

[James]

It's not just NBC. My local CBS affiliate's web site now requires Silverlight to view the weather page. I have to wonder just how they were motivated to make the switch.

[Josh Cronkhite]

From the article: "And computers running the Linux operating system -- an open-source alternative to Windows..."

I just wanted to clarify that Linux is an alternative to almost every operating system, not just Windows. Linux can be installed on Mac hardware as well, not just your old Windows system's hardware. In my experience older computers gain new life when converted to Linux, but new systems are extremely fast even while using the 3D desktop software Compiz Fuzion (http://www.compiz-fusion.org/).

[Joshua Zamrycki]

it makes perfect sense to me: NBC will leave any Microsoft competitors out in the cold if the price is right. This seems like an unfair business practice to me, but I'm just a lowly Linux user who doesn't spend enough money on obsolete technology to change their minds.

[erichansa]

Monopolizing content!! Send your complaints to feedback(at)nbcolympics.com and Sam Ramji (head of Interop at Microsoft) sramji(at)microsoft.com.

[William Lacy]

This is exactly why I started OGGTV.COM, to break the DRM lockout of content.

[Peter Teuben]

Those who argue that it's acceptable to not cater to 4% of the computing world should perhaps remember that not everything in life is democratically decided. Special Ed comes to mind. Handicapped parking.
Also, being in this business myself, I find it of tremendous value to the software to make sure it works on another platform. Little vs. Big endian, 32 vs. 64 bit. Makes it much more robust. Nowadays all major software packages or windows, mac ppc/intel AND linux. The fact that MS decided only to implement half of those platforms is really inexcusable. Rushing? Give me a break, they knew this well in advance. It simply shows their build procedures are not mature enough. MS, look at Adobe, look at Macro media, look at Firefox, Skype, Java, etc.etc.

[Jon]

I like the olympic site. The only dumb thing is having to tell it what cable provider you use. I use RCN and they apparently don't have a contract with NBC so it said I couldn't watch so I just went back and said I had Comcast and off we went.

The silverlight portion of it has worked very well and the video stream quality seems better and more reliable than any flash player I have seen.

The exclusive rights thing is dumb but the olympics have been more about making money on the backs of amateur athletes than it is about competition any way so why not have exclusive content contracts...

[James]

I would like to hear some intelligent feedback from Linux users who have tried Moonlight? One commenter mentioned it, but siad they didn't know anyone that got it to work? They didn't mention whether or not they had TRIED to get it to work.

Silverlight is a great platform, with a lot of potential. With the open source moonlight version of it, it should be very platform indepoendant, but perhapos isn't quite developed enough for everyone. Still, it provides a great expereince for the majority of users.

I'll try to install Moonlight on Ubuntu when I get the time. I'd like to try it out.

[Kyle K]

Unbelievable. Not only do they require an unwanted and totally unnecessary crap plugin but when I refused to enter my zip and cable provider when forced to, it announced that my computer was "locked for 24 hours from this type of video".

I just wanted to watch some Olympic highlights, and I ended up ferociously hating both NBC, whose coverage is dumbfoundingly weak anyway, and Microsoft, whose OS I already own and want to have nothing more to do with. And now you are excluding me?

Hells no. The olympics are inspirational and uplifting, but just for you this year I'll find some other way to use my time.

[James]

1. Linux is 4% of users.
2. It is folly to save the best coverage for those using the worst version of Windows since ME.
3. The coverage is one-sided. If they offered unfettered access for a small fee say $10-$20 (plus the normal free stuff), I'm sure a lot of folks would pony up. I would.

[John]

To the MS Windows users who can't view NBC Olympics videos because they don't have the latest version of XP or Vista or don't have cable television ...

There is a way to watch NBC's coverage on your MS Windows computer. You can run a Python script from an MS-DOS prompt to capture the MMS stream URLs and then past the URL of the stream you want into VLC player.

Convoluted and inconvenient, but it works.

First, install VLC player: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Next follow the instructions for installing the Python interpreter: http://rg03.wordpress.com/youtube-dl-under-windows-xp/

Get the Python script from this webpage: http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?p=169818#169818

Open the MS-DOS prompt and run the script. Then copy the MMS stream URL into VLC and watch all of the NBC Olympics streams.

Have fun!

[Kevin]

Support linux!

[TonyT]

Has anyone tried to get these videos going on a browser running in Wine? That may fix that problem!