谷歌進軍網路視訊領域意在打擊蘋果
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瀏覽器中直接支援H.264視訊格式，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訊格式的發展，以及谷歌將更加註重Adobe的Flash技術等。不過有專家認為，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將原生地支援WebM，而不是H.264，這意味著YouTube將把所有視訊轉向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裝置，例如iPhone和iPad中內建的H.264視訊解碼器的效能，因此蘋果不太可能成為 WebM格式的支持者，或是在iOS裝置中內建WebM解碼器。尤其考慮到有許多公司已經支援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的部分或所有視訊都可能無法在iOS裝置上播放，因為YouTube的部分或所有視訊將沒有H.264編碼，而iOS裝置又不支援 WebM格式。這可能會在很多年之後發生，也有可能不會發生，不過對使用者來說有這樣的可能性。YouTube是一個龐大的視訊網站，如果YouTube視訊不支援iOS裝置，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，這將被谷歌作為一個營銷亮點。
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援谷歌的視訊格式，以便使iPhone支援YouTube視訊，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的支援意味著Chrome瀏覽器使用者需要使用Flash來播放H.264視訊。這對使用者來說沒有太大影響，因為Flash非常常見。不過，這一舉措也是反蘋果的，因為蘋果對待Flash的態度非常嚴厲，而Flash在Mac電腦上的效能也不是很好。
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.
- 谷歌全力支援Flash有些奇怪，因為Flash和Adobe未來的發展對谷歌來說沒有影響。谷歌或許只是為了讓使用者繼續使用Flash，使採用Flash技術的廣告能夠繼續存在。此外，谷歌也可能只是為了打擊蘋果。
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.
對使用者來說，谷歌的舉措不會對日常使用造成明顯的影響。
