In a disappointing display of Mac marginalization, a Macintouch reader report indicates that the audio portion of Windows Media streams of British Parliament sessions does not come through on the Macintosh.
The result is that Mac users will be unable to enjoy the wave of Parliament-mania that is sweeping the globe.
At the dorms of Carleton College in Northfield, Minn., sophomores Rick Levert and Topher Callaghan described the excitement that is British Parliament, while watching a continued stream on their Windows XP machines.
“I remember I was just surfing around one day and saw this link to extreme Parliament action,” Levert said. “I clicked on it and watched Lord Evans of Temple Guiting totally take this guy down! I don’t remember who it was…”
“Lord Roper,” Callaghan mumbled, shoving a fistful of popcorn into his mouth while continuing to unblinkingly watch the Parliament stream.
“Yeah, Lord Roper,” Levert said. “Anyway, I was hooked then and there.
“I think what’s so totally amazing about it is how the action builds! It’ll start with a simple ‘Will the gentleman yield?!’ Then the guy goes with a ‘I would like to ask the gentleman…’ Now he’s got him! He can ask him anything he wants! So he hits him with some detailed question about the Pensions Bill! Boom! If the poor sap doesn’t know the answer off the top of his head, he’s got to read it from some position paper! And you know the other side’s gonna yell ‘READING!’ because the dude’s just reading it, which is totally lame, while the other dude’s dudes are going to yell ‘HEAR-HEAR!’ to try to support him!
“Oh, man, it is wild!”
“Oh, dude, did you see that?!” Callaghan suddenly called out, pointing at the screen with a butter-covered finger. “Geoffrey Clifton-Brown just totally filibustered Right Honorable Richard Caborn! Whoo-hoo! Yeah!”
Levert and Callaghan laughed excitedly and exchanged high-fives.
Meanwhile, across campus, Mac user Dave Simms was struggling to get into Parliament-mania with no audio.
“I think that guy just told that other guy the bill has to go back to committee,” Simms said. “But I’m not sure.
“I’m sure it’s a lot more exciting with the audio,” Simms concluded.
Mac users are urged to contact the British Parliament’s web site and demand a QuickTime stream.