Software applications like Adobe Media Player seem to be in abundance these days, both as standalone desktop applications (Windows Media Player, iTunes) or housed within a Web browser (Hulu.com, Blip.tv).
The key to what Adobe is trying to do with its Media Player is provide a range of free content using its own Flash video. Flash, after all, is pretty ubiquitous on the Web these days. Easily 90 per cent or more of the video you watch on all the websites out there is Flash-based.
A Bevy of Content in a Flash
Internet video viewership is growing fast, and part of the reason is because more and more content is being made available online. Adobe Media Player is a Rich Internet Application (RIA) on your desktop that allows you to download video in the Flash format without ever opening a Web browser. Part of the concept behind this is to let you download video and then view it offline in the Flash format, which is something new.
Major broadcasters like MTV and CBS are on board to serve up some of their shows, along with Comedy Central, PBS and Spike. But the term "free" doesn't always ring true with what they offer. For one, you will sometimes get Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions that don't allow you to download and watch offline. Adobe also touted AMP's ability to display content in high-definition (HD), but it's hard to see that with some of the quality currently available.
I'm a young guy, but I can appreciate an old show like Star Trek. You know, the one back in the day when "beam me up, Scotty" hadn't quite yet become a catch-phrase. Well, AMP offers up tons of episodes to you, which is maybe the coolest thing about it. Sure, there are plenty of episodes of MTV Cribs, CSI and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but there's something to be said about having more than just a handful available from one show.
The main reason it's like that is because the content owners — meaning the networks — have the final say on what's available, when it's available and how you'll be able to watch it. Already, a lot of those Star Trek episodes have been pulled. Will they come back? Probably, but no one knows when. AMP is nice in that it gives you a synopsis of what it's about to play, but there's no news feed of any kind indicating why something is suddenly missing.
Adobe says that AMP is also meant to be a hub for all your own video content, as well as any RSS video feeds you subscribe to. But it doesn't do this particular function all that well right now. I had a much easier time doing that with other software.
Slowing Things Down
Installing AMP on my Mac was a borderline nightmare. Adobe software is usually easy to install, but I had to go as far as uninstalling the Flash player I already had, then install Flash 9, reboot and install AMP. I couldn't think of any other media player that made me go through something like that.
Adobe also needs to figure out a way to have AMP use as little power from the computer as possible. Running it on my MacBook took up a lot of the processor's power consumption, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I suspect, also, that this might play a role into why some of the video takes so long to load. Flash is renowned for being quick to load — at least one good reason why it's become the norm on the Web — but it doesn't always behave that way on AMP. I waited for quite some time to watch an episode of CSI: Miami and finally got frustrated enough to just forget about it and quit the application. My Internet connection was pretty solid, so I don't think it was a bandwidth issue.
At this point, I can recommend that you check Adobe Media Player out, since it's free to download, but it needs some tweaks and adjustments before it's truly ready for primetime.