I wanted to catch up on an episode of Desperate Housewives, but when I went to Channel 4 they told me I had to have a PC running Internet Explorer -- I only have an iMac and an iBook. I wrote to them and they told me it wasn't their fault but the production companies insist on something called DRM. Desperate of Dorchester (Alastair Nisbet)
You could write to Apple's Steve Jobs and suggest he licences WMV (Windows Media Video) and the companion DRM (digital rights management) from Microsoft. Even small Asian companies seem to be able to manage this. Anyway, I assume Apple is going to license VC-1, which is a version of WMV that has been adopted as a standard option for Blu-ray and HD DVD movies. (It's possible Macs will be unable to play all high-definition movies, but I doubt it.)
Alternatively there is hope on the horizon with Microsoft's new Silverlight browser plug-in, formerly known as WPF/E (Windows Presentation Foundation/Everywhere). Microsoft is doing a version for Mac OS X that will play WMV movies, and it includes a DRM option (microsoft.com/silverlight).
Of course, it would be even better if producers abandoned DRM, but that may take longer.....
Comment: I'm sure most of you can think of another answer....
