Please help with mobile compatibility on ShockFlix.com

[Templar]

Hey guys I'd appreciate some help with browser/mobile compatibility for my YouTube-style video site http://www.shockflix.com

I have a Windows Vista based computer and I can successfully view videos in every browser. I also have an Android Tablet and I can view the videos there in every browser but Google Chrome where it downloads, instead of streams, the video. The player is HTML5 for best compatibility.

Please if you're having problems viewing the videos post your issue. Thanks.

[Algenon5]

No problems viewing the vids on your site using IE11, Firefox and Chrome. FYI, my OS is win 7 pro 64.

Al

[Templar]

Thanks! That was surprisingly the only response to this post on 4 forums including my own! You da man Algenon5.

[elsullo]

Don't be shocked, but a lot of us are illiterate in tech-speak; we don't even do mobile, and just don't care about tablets and I-things. Me, my phone is just a phone. I have never sent a text or a file in my life. I'd rather just CALL somebody. There is a whole great SKY full of beings hidden around people staring down into tiny screens.......................elsullo

[Templar]

Elsullo: Not thinking about phones or tablets was a mistake I made for the same reason. Maybe it's just my age or how much I work on computers but tablets and phones never even occurred to me. One major mistake I made was to create a whole functionality around 'hover' where if you hover over a picture, it will animate. Oops - Hover is dead. You can't hover on phones or tablets and more and more - that's the chosen method for accessing the net. Thanks for the responses. :)

[ctrails3]

On my iPad ,safari won't play,it wants to download.

[Algenon5]

Industry has vastly over-estimated the impact of smart phones and tablets on internet use and access. With their small screens, limited battery life and miniscule storage capacity they are NOT replacements for PCs or MACs.

The vast majority of adult smart phone owners use them to text and make phone calls. They DO NOT use them to surf the web. Anyone who uses a tablet to web surf likely does so only because at the time they don't have access to a computer. (Have you ever tried writing a long email on a seven-inch tablet?)

Industry loves to jump in with both feet to anything they perceive to be the next big thing, which on more than one occasion has turned around and bit them in the ass. Here are some examples:

Windows 8.

NBC News changed the formats of their websites to make them phone and tablet friendly. The reaction was swift and so overwhelmingly negative, the old formats were quickly restored.

A large non-profit website with which I'm involved as a content collections administrator is in the process of making the same mistake as NBC News. The reaction so far has been negative, angry and growing.

Ten years ago the laptop was supposed to kill off the desktop. Yet every major computer manufacturer still maintains a large line of desktops for home use. Now tablets are supposed to kill off laptops and desktops. Don't hold your breath.

I'm not saying a site owner should ignore portable devices. I am saying remember how the vast majority of folks (adults in particular) access your site, and don't do anything to piss them off.

Al

[Templar]

Funny thing is I see some people getting upset that a site forces them to go to the mobile version. Tablets are now 10-12" - they're basically computer screens so why not allow the user to view the site as a computer would?

On the other hand I've been getting messages from Google telling me that my sites aren't mobile friendly and I need to change them. Funny how Google went from search engine to Emperor of the internet! LOL