No, this is nothing to do with Apple. iPlayer is the BBC's TV on demand service. Around Xmas they announced that there would be a web streaming version as well as the Windows-only software. I have to say that it works great on my Linux PC, including full-screen mode, but you have to watch out for your screensaver cutting in.
Last night I watched my first full programme on iPlayer. This was How Pop Songs Work, an interesting exploration into what makes a good pop song. I happen to like programmes about how music works, but managed to miss this one when it went out. You have 5 days before it expires. I know some people get this sort of service from their cable TV, but for those of us who choose not to subscribe it's a useful extra way to catch the few good shows that you may miss.
Also on the music front, I'm reading Oliver Sacks' Musicphilia about the mind and music. It is largely about when the brain goes wrong, but also about why some people may be better at music than others.
Cool. I just watched the thing about pop songs on my Mac. It worked OK, with decent resolution in full-screen mode. My display did go to sleep a couple of times, which I remedied by adjusting the volume using the iMac remote control unit. The only way I know to stop it happening is to change the energy saver settings before watching. The other problem I had was that every 5 or ten minutes it paused for a few seconds while "buffering". I don't know where the bottleneck was - I only have 512k broadband and it has been a bit ropey of late.
ReplyDeleteOn my 4Mb it was pretty smooth, but I did notice some slight audio sync issues. I've seen similar technology on Youtube and Google Video, but this actually has stuff I want to watch ;)
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