BBC iPlayer my rs
So 16,000 signatures ensured that the BBC iPlayer will work on operating systems other than just Windows. So far so good, although you'd expect that in the era of Joost, Hulu, and that other service putting terms like “cross-platform” and “inter-operable” in the brief would be a no-brainer. 1)
Anyway, a desire for QI overruling patience, I make sure VMware Fusion is updated, make sure my Win XP Pro installation is also updated (cue lots of security downloads and a reboot of the virtual machine), and try to get the iPlayer up and running. Oops, must update IE6 to IE7 (another reboot). Check that I couldn't use Firefox… yes, no can do. Oh, now I must update Media Player to v 10. Yet another reboot. And update something else I never use as well; by now I've lost the count, but possibly there was another reboot. Half an hour later, I try to get the iPlayer going.
But, no: all the developers who let you download an app / utility / whatever and then use the thing have, apparently, got it wrong. And all the user expectations built on familiarity with this fairly straightforward process, count for zilch. Because you will search in vain for the “Download the iPlayer” link. The thought emerges that either you are an idiot after all, or there is a bug. Then you go read the “help” pages, incredulous that you are actually reading the guide for installing an application from the web. This is the deal: you first have to select a show, and only when you try to view that particular show will the site prompt you to download the iPlayer… So a) it is impossible to enable the service itself on your computer; and b) you experience the additional friction of building expectation, then having your “oh, I'd fancy seeing that” moment delayed (wanna bet that there would be another reboot involved?). 2)
Aaanyway, again. Select a show. Click. Clickity-click some more. Then this:
WTF!
