NBC Olympics Website Uses Silverlight…or are they?
I’m really excited about the Olympics getting ready to start on 08.08.08. Even as simple as it is, I love the date it’s about to start.
One of the other things I’m looking forward to this year is the ability to really be able to enjoy the highlights of the various events that I will inevitably miss because of work or other responsibilities.
NBC has used the Microsoft Silverlight media technology to make the videos come alive.
The only problem is I’ve gone to the site now a few different times now and I’m continually prompted to download and install the Silverlight 2.0 software, which I’ve done. You know what the problem is? Firefox, or at least Firefox 3.0. As good as Silverlight 2.0 might be, I’d think Microsoft would want to make it work on Firefox wouldn’t you?
What’s the deal here. Doesn’t seem smart to me.
Tags: Firefox, Firefox 3.0, Internet Explorer, NBC, Olympics, SilverlightRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Music & Entertainment, Silverlight
9 opinions for NBC Olympics Website Uses Silverlight…or are they?
Aaron Brazell
Jul 31, 2008 at 11:46 pm
Works fine on Firefox 3/Mac
Quikboy
Aug 1, 2008 at 12:19 am
That’s strange. According to this NBC/MSN Get Silverlight for the Games site, Firefox 3.0 is supported. I don’t personally use FF, but it claims it does.
http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight/NBCOlympicsonMSN/getsilverlight.html
Jason Bean
Aug 1, 2008 at 10:15 am
Well that’s weird. I still can’t see the homepage when I try to visit in Firefox 3. Anyone have any bright ideas?
John Dowdell
Aug 1, 2008 at 7:34 pm
What you describe (”it doesn’t recognize that I installed!”) is a common symptom… try silverlight.net/forums to confirm.
US viewers at NBCOlympics.com will not actually be required to install Silverlight… Scott Guthrie confirms (vaguely) that a fairly recent Windows Media Player contains the same video codec:
http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/Features/2008/jul08/07-29qaolympics.mspx
(The FF3/SL2 instability was fixed with the most recent releases of each… shouldn’t be an issue anymore. If in doubt, uninstall the plugin and reinstall fresh.)
jd/adobe
Aaron Brazell
Aug 1, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Color me impressed that Josh from Adobe stopped in to support a competitor product. Good play, Josh.
Ryan
Aug 5, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Microsoft wants to be everything to everyone that’s why. Another shoddy MS imitation of another company’s product, brand new and ready to suck!
Silverlight Now Gives Me Problems on Firefox 3 and IE7
Aug 6, 2008 at 12:21 am
[…] I’ve read and heard that Silverlight is indeed supposed to work in Firefox 3, even though it never appears to on my computer regardless of the number of times I try to install and reinstall it. […]
Bolek
Aug 10, 2008 at 2:50 pm
So my experience with MS Silverlight was anything but pleasant. I tried to view a few times some streams from Olympic games on NBC website (www.nbcolympics.com), but the experience is simply horrific. I am using Firefox 3 on Windows XP at this point (there is no player for Non Windows or non Mac platforms. So much for net neutrality without trying to peddle someone’s agenda) so one would think, that MS would get their act together.
It does not seem so. Silverlight has difficulties to load any video clips (never mind streaming), it literally freezes my system for at least 1 minute or more before throwing a message that there appears to be an Internet connection issue on my side (it beats me how, because I can use my internet connection just fine from other system in my household just fine).
This ‘internet’ connection issue appears to be strictly a “Silverlight” phenomenon. If there is any “silver lining” here, is to stay away from it.
I cannot understand why NBC would choose a technology that has not been proven for one of the most important sporting events like Olympics. Go figure.
For those wondering what version of Silverlight I am using, it’s the one that NBC forced me to install to be able to view (or not) the sporting events, Beta 2.0.
sth1d
Aug 15, 2008 at 1:05 pm
The problem with the player is that if there’s any kind of network latency, the stream gets interrupted and playback halts. The buffer that it uses is miniscule and can’t handle any type of latency.
I’m getting about 9% packet loss to the servers (llnw.net) and the player keeps downgrading my video quality saying that my network connection is too slow. This is my speed test right now:
Speed Test #55708600 by dslreports.com
Run: 2008-08-15 13:02:51 EST
Download: 52527 (Kbps)
Upload: 19878 (Kbps)
In kilobytes per second: 6412 down 2426.5 up
If this is too slow everyone watching at home is in big trouble.
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