Hi Matt,
I apologize up front if this is not the right place to ask or even if you are the right person to ask but here goes… I have DSL access to the internet but the connection isn’t always very consistent. I have difficulty being able to watch an entire ‘how-to’ video with the streaming from being interrupted which makes it very distracting. The video control to rewind never seems to rewind. I do that hoping that the previously viewed material would have remained in the buffer and the remaining video continues to download. ESPN’s video content seems to do this well.
I am hoping that there is a way to resolve this. I am both a magazine and on-line subscriber and I guess the ultimate hope would be able to save the video for use later or for the web-tech people tweek the player to operate similarly to ESPN’s. Being able to pause the viewing but have the data still streaming ensures that the buffer stays full for uninterrupted viewing for those of us with less than perfect internet connections.
Food for thought and thanks,
Mark
Replies
Hi Mark.
You did go to the right place and the right person, so thanks for alerting us to your viewing experience.
I don't have an immediate answer to your problem but it really all comes down to a difference in technology. I just watched highlights from a Bulls game on ESPN.com and I think they use what's called progressive streaming (someone correct me if I'm wrong), which temporarily downloads the video file as you're watching it. Our videos are streamed real time, so when you pause the video you're actually pausing the stream.
Of course, all this technology still confuses me so I could be wrong. I can tell you we'll be working to improve our video technology over the next few months and I'll relay your comments to the tech staff.
Regards,
Matt Berger
Fine Woodworking
Hey Matt,
Thanks for the response. Its refreshing to know that things of this nature don't fall on deaf ears. Conceptually, what you're saying makes sense to me and if the system is getting tweaked, I'd suggest that ESPN's model be considered (assuming they aren't using any propietary technology.
The videos are an invaluable service to a hobbyist such as myself, please keep them coming! In the meantime, I'll grind it out. I know that there is an annual DVD that contains much of this content...are there any plans to compile a volume/multi-DVD of more than just one year's worth similar to Fine Homebuilding's offering? I would be interested in such a product.
Thanks again,
Mark
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