谷歌進軍網絡視頻領域意在打擊蘋果
Google recently announced that it would stop directly supporting the H.264 video format in Chrome, favoring its own WebM format going forward. (It acquired the assets behind WebM when it bought On2 in 2009.)
谷歌近期宣佈，將停止在Chrome瀏覽器中直接支持H.264視頻格式，並專注於推動自有的WebM格式的發展。
There are several ways to interpret this move, such as Google simply favoring a video format it controls over one it doesn't, Google putting more weight behind Adobe Flash, etc. But this is also an attack on Apple, the latest in Google's escalating war with Apple.
業內對谷歌這一舉措有不同的解讀，例如谷歌只是希望推動自有視頻格式的發展，以及谷歌將更加註重Adobe的Flash技術等。不過有專家認爲，這一舉措也是對蘋果的打擊。
How?
下面就是具體原因：
Since Chrome is going to natively support WebM and not H.264, it makes sense that YouTube would eventually move its videos over to WebM, and eventually stop making H.264 copies of everything, so as not to require 2X the storage space.
- 由於Chrome將原生地支持WebM，而不是H.264，這意味着YouTube將把所有視頻轉向WebM格式，並將停止以H.264格式製作備份。
Since Apple is such a huge H.264 supporter -- and has performance-boosting H.264 hardware decoders built-in to its iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad -- it's unlikely to become a WebM supporter or build-in WebM hardware decoders (once they exist) to its gadgets. Especially given how many other video companies have adopted H.264, such as Netflix, Hulu, Major League Baseball, etc.
- 由於蘋果是H.264格式的主要支持者，並不斷提升iOS設備，例如iPhone和iPad中內建的H.264視頻解碼器的性能，因此蘋果不太可能成爲 WebM格式的支持者，或是在iOS設備中內建WebM解碼器。尤其考慮到有許多公司已經支持H.264，例如Netflix、Hulu和MLB等。
Therefore, there could someday be a time when some or all of YouTube won't play on iOS devices because some or all YouTube videos aren't in H.264 and iOS devices can't natively play WebM videos. This may take many years, or it may happen sooner, or maybe never. But it's a possibility. And YouTube is such a big video site (and was a strong initial partner for iOS) that it would be considered a blow to Apple. Google Android and Chrome OS, of course, will probably be optimized for WebM, something Google may try to use as a marketing advantage.
- 未來YouTube的部分或所有視頻都可能無法在iOS設備上播放，因爲YouTube的部分或所有視頻將沒有H.264編碼，而iOS設備又不支持 WebM格式。這可能會在很多年之後發生，也有可能不會發生，不過對用戶來說有這樣的可能性。YouTube是一個龐大的視頻網站，如果YouTube視頻不支持iOS設備，那麼將是對蘋果的一次嚴重打擊。谷歌Android系統和Chrome系統將會針對WebM進行優化，這將被谷歌作爲一個營銷亮點。
If Apple someday does have to support Google's video format for YouTube to work on an iPhone -- either natively, or through a plugin, or maybe even through Flash -- Google can laugh about that-
如果蘋果最終以某種方式支持谷歌的視頻格式，以便使iPhone支持YouTube視頻，那麼最終的贏家將是谷歌。
Google's move to strip out native H.264 support in Chrome means Chrome users would have to use Flash to play back H.264 video. That's fine, because Flash is pretty ubiquitous. But it could also be considered anti-Apple because of Apple's hard line against Flash on iOS devices, and Flash's generally crappy performance on Mac computers (relative to PCs)
- 谷歌宣佈放棄對H.264的支持意味着Chrome瀏覽器用戶需要使用Flash來播放H.264視頻。這對用戶來說沒有太大影響，因爲Flash非常常見。不過，這一舉措也是反蘋果的，因爲蘋果對待Flash的態度非常嚴厲，而Flash在Mac電腦上的性能也不是很好。
It's a little weird that Google is giving Flash such a boost here, because Google doesn't have (that we know) any financial interest in Flash's and Adobe's future. Maybe it's all about locking people into Flash so Flash ads continue to flourish at the expense of HTML5? Maybe it's to annoy Apple? Maybe Google wants to buy Adobe? We confess we don't know, but it's a bit odd.
- 谷歌全力支持Flash有些奇怪，因爲Flash和Adobe未來的發展對谷歌來說沒有影響。谷歌或許只是爲了讓用戶繼續使用Flash，使採用Flash技術的廣告能夠繼續存在。此外，谷歌也可能只是爲了打擊蘋果。
Big deal? Not yet -- not from a consumer's standpoint, especially. Very little is likely to change for the typical user for a while. But if you work in video, you're definitely thinking about it.
對用戶來說，谷歌的舉措不會對日常使用造成明顯的影響。
