Player-Less Streaming is Software as a Service

Introduction
The transition from stand alone computing devices to a global network of computers, cell-phones, personal digital assistants and other convergence devices is well under way. The main challenge of a networked world is interoperability between different computing devices. The only feasible solution to this challenge is to build software that is both centrally managed and standards based. Often referred to as "Software as a Service", these kinds of technologies (e.g. Google, SalesForce.com etc...) are radically gaining ground against the traditional "Software on PC" model.

Liabilities of Installed Media Players

 
Installable Media Players are born of the "Software on PC" generation. For reasons of performance, limited networked resources and format competition this became the de-facto standard. Going forward this system presents many challenges that will prevent it from ever becoming a universal "Software as a Service" technology. A few of these challenges are:
> 1
By having the software installed on the client, this by definition makes central manageability extremely difficult. Updates to the system need to be performed on each individual client. In a corporate environment client updates create additional work for the system administrator who is responsible for making sure each system is up to the latest version. Often times everyday users are not aware of these updates which can result in them having a range of problems including security vulnerabilities.
 
> 2
The format competition between the major vendors has resulted in a splintered installed base. This diversity has meant that not any one format is guaranteed to playacross all systems. Going forward this competition between vendors only shows signs of increasing. As an example Microsoft has notified Macintosh customers that there willbe no more updates for Windows Media Player on Macintosh systems.
 
> 3
Closed and proprietary systems. All the major media player vendors rely on their own proprietary systems, which often makes interoperability impossible as one media format will not play in another vendor's player. Proprietary systems also make extensibility difficult because new features need to be implemented by the vendor. To make matters worse often times the vendor will not disclose the product road map to 3rd party developers.
 
Overview of Player-Less Delivery Strategy
 
This system incorporates a disruptive approach to video streaming. By storing the "player" on the server and incorporating it as part of the video stream you have solved the challenge of central manageability. Updates to the player are done on the server and clients are naturally updated when they request a video. The update requires no manual intervention from the user and happens completely transparently.
 
In addition by using the Java Virtual Machine as the platform we have chosen a standards based technology that is both extensible and available across all devices and systems. The java video applet utilizes system and network detection techniques to determine which version of the media format to provide for the client. Depending on the client's java version certain libraries and functionalities becomes available to the user.
 
Conclusion
The future of software will include a mixture of both "Software as a Service" and "Software on PC" models. Depending on the software's function one system may be more appropriate than the other. However, video streaming perfectly lends itself to the former model because its requirements include both central manageability and that its available through the web. Another unique requirement to video streaming is that it needs to be available across a range of devices and systems. Because Java is a widely accepted standard it is the best platform for reaching the greatest variety of devices.