Video is widespread

Yeah, where are they? The are a few DRM video sites out there, big whoop. These are niche areas, supported only by custom proprietary apps, all different, hardly a standards threat to ...(?) anything really. By definiton, if it requires a plugin or custom app for most people, it isn't a standard. These aren't even remotely on the level of the pathetic activeX threat to the open web back in 1998. No, there is nothing even close to a web standard in video yet. Not that I am claiming that VP8 will be it, just that the battle hasn't really even begun and that the largest and most relevant web video content provider out there likely has more say than anyone else, especially since their content is free (as in beer).

Let's think a bit more about this, to see that this is nothing even remotely like GIF. Did Netscape require a plugin to view GIFs? How many web pages had GIFs in say 1995? Already more than there are web pages with videos in them today (likely)? But, by 10 years ago, the time of the original comparison, the question would be: how many GIFs to an html page do you think there were (10, 20?) No, this does not compare to any video format.