Looks like the BBC buckled under backlash from bloggers (say that 20 times fast). They’ll be offering their iPlayer in Mac and Linux flavors 🙂
I talked about what a crock they had begun to simmer with a Windows only version a few weeks ago. Glad to see that they have understood that the benefits outweigh the caveats many times over.
It’s much like standards compliant web pages…you only limit yourself by making your page non-compliant…because it won’t display in all browsers. You lose business if you have an ecommerce site…you lost hits if you have a blog. The BBC now understands that by limiting the ability of those to use its player, it shut the door to those users. It also knows that a network of bloggers is a powerful force to be reckoned with.
Whether Linux and Mac users be a small number or a large number, the BBC has set precedent here that I hope they follow in the future. Keep Open BBC!
