Hacker News Reader

Because they haven't dropped mp3. They announced it on the same day as Verizon's iPhone announcement. If it was Microsoft and WMV / OpenXML or Oracle and the Java, I would be just as concerned. Group standards seem to work better than a single companies spec.

View on HN

They announced it on the same day as Verizon's iPhone announcement.

The video codec announcement had zero impact outside of the tech-heavy sphere. In no universe would it have undermined the Verizon announcement. The MP3 diversion is spurious and irrelevant compared to the video issue: You pick your battles.

Video encoding is a lot wider than just the computer industry. One group who has a serious interest is those self-same media reporting on Verizon's event. I would trust their commitment more if they at least put a plan to sunset all patent-encumbered formats.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com