Flash 8 poised to take on Web video

"Macromedia plans to unveil its Flash 8 software early next month with an emphasis on video capabilities that some think could up-end the Web video market..."

Those who argue too strongly, on either side, that Flash will overtake popular stand alone media players aren't really understanding the situation. It's not that Flash will replace Windows Media player etc, it's that the breadth of video experiences on the web is growing thanks to Flash. The opportunity to experience video within the context of other related interface and page content elements - all within your browser window - will go beyond the vanilla 'box with video floating above all windows' paradigm. It already is. This is really great for _some_ purposes, but not all. Where media players annoyingly don't integrate smoothly into the web experience, Flash can bump them out. When you want to view DV quality full screen video indepedent of other peripheral content, you'll have your player apps...