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TelevisionWeek contributing writer Daisy Whitney is blogging about the pinnacles and pitfalls facing viewers who want to consume television in new ways. Check in frequently as Daisy kicks the tires on the new media juggernaut and dishes on which services do -- and don’t -- make the cut.

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Trial and Error



'24' on Explorer But Not the FireFox

January 25, 2007 1:18 PM


I really hate to admit this. It pains me to say what I am about to say.

But I must tell the cold hard truth. And the truth is that video plays better on Internet Explorer than Firefox.

I recently became a Firefox convert. After hearing my husband, a Firefox evangelist, berate me for years for still using IE, I officially switched this month. Firefox is easier and the tabbing function is just way cool.

So, I visited MySpace today to check out the first few episodes of this season’s “24.” I found the show easily, after navigating to the video page from the homepage. However, when I clicked play I was asked to download the latest version of some player or other. As I’ve written before, I’m fed up with new player downloads and the constant barrage of updates that various sites require.

But I soldiered on and opted for the download. And the download didn’t work. I barely remember why now. All I remember was I got some annoying message and then the browser just sat there with a tantalizing “loading…” teaser note for nearly an hour. Until I closed that tab.

So I reluctantly opted for Explorer and jumped onto MySpace. And everything worked. It just worked fine and dandy.

The video loaded. The video played. The video fast forwarded. The video paused.


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Comments (4)

Bryan:

I feel about Firefox the way I feel about Macs: sure, there may some advantages, but not significant enough to justify changing. I mean, those annoying Mac commercials make it seem like you can barely look at pictures on a PC. It's just hype.

Posted by Bryan | January 25, 2007 6:26 PM

Daisy:

I am beginning to feel that way too! I still have to rely on both browsers -- Firefox is great when you are doing research and need to bounce back and forth between various sites, while Explorer is better for watching video.

As for Macs, I don't know how anyone can function without a right mouse click option! Mystifies me.

Posted by Daisy | January 25, 2007 9:31 PM

Harry Jessell:

I just downloaded the new Explorer, which has a superior tabbing function. You can now have your cake and eat it too.

Posted by Harry Jessell | January 26, 2007 8:58 AM

Daisy:

Thanks for the tip, Harry! I didn't know that.

Posted by Daisy | January 26, 2007 1:20 PM

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