Exceptional Internet

For those of you that have clicked on the links in the wonderful exceptional internet TV links part of the site the chances are you’ll have arrived at a wonderful streaming video site called Stage 6.

Unlike most streaming video sites which use the frankly ropey flv format for video streams Stage 6 used (and was set up by) DivX, the state of the art video compression. Think of it like mp3 for video.

Well sadly Stage 6 has proven to be no longer viable for DivX to operate and from Feb 28th they will be shutting the site down. Amazingly in a world where Youtube thrives and can be sold for megabucks something that offers real virtually broadcast quality video streams online  - i.e. a far far better and potentially more commercially viable service - cannot find a buyer, can’t thrive on it’s own, and outstrips the available resources of it’s parent company.

I hope at least they have shown us the way forward and a new generation of high quality online video sites will rise from the ashes of Stage 6. It would be a shame to think that was the end and now we have to go back to pixellated windowed flv’s.

Filed under: Using The Web