QuickTime Player is a free application to play audio and video files that comes pre-installed on all Macs, an application that has fallen a little victim to the passage of time but, like others, has been a real revolution in its time. an app still very useful todaybut that has meant that its use has gradually declined in favor of streaming and other alternatives.
And why was QuickTime Player a revolution? Well, due to a combination of factors, among which stands out the fact that be free, standard on all Macs and all the editing options it offers. Options that aren’t remotely meant to compete with Final Cut Pro or even iMovie, but are really useful in more than one situation. Let’s talk a little more about this interesting player.
A true revolution of its time
At a time when almost all the videos we watched were stored locally on our computers – either because we recorded them with our camcorder or iPhone, or because we downloaded them from the internet a player that can open almost any file it was of the utmost importance. So much so that QuickTime Player for Windows was available and a version with more tools and possibilities was even marketed.
Fast forward a little in time and we’re in a time, say around 2005, when we were still consuming a lot of downloaded content, though there was a merging of different formats. Windows pushed its .avi format, open formats weren’t used that often, and compression was essential to being able to place content on the web. This is where QuickTime Player faced its first major obstacle, which was compatibility with certain codecs.
Certainly considering the royalties which would have to be paid to be able to reproduce some formats, QuickTime Player saw too many videos that it couldn’t open. This prompted many users to look for alternatives such as VLC. It wasn’t a question of design, performance, or the built-in player, but simply the need to open a file without having to convert it first.
To which streaming has removed functionality, although…
We go back almost to today and find the videos right on the internet. platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion and many more have taken the display off our computers. As a result, streaming platforms like Disney+ and Netflix have taken over, and local playback has become even rarer. Yes, obviously there have been and still are people who continue to enjoy their video library or who are committed to video and use QuickTime Player day in and day out, but it’s less common.
So, is QuickTime Player still useful? Lots. For people who work exclusively in the Apple ecosystem, the .mov or .mp4 format and the like is common and we can open it in the application. Also every video we recorded with our iPhone. And here comes the interesting thing: We can join multiple videos, cut them, rearrange fragments and perform some basic editing with simple drag and drop.
As we said, a very simple output, nothing to do with an iMovie, but interesting when we have several recordings that we want to convert into a single file or when we need to remove part of the beginning of a video. Also interesting to do some conversions, e.g. reduce the quality and weight of a video file or to convert it to audio only. This without going into the possibility of recording directly on the computer the screen of our Mac, the sound of our microphones or the screen of our iPhone or iPad.
QuickTime Player reflects the passage of time, yes, changes in the way we work or enjoy video, but as the saying goes, who kept them? In its time it was a real revolution and now, although its use is much less widespread, we are facing it a really useful app in different scenarios. An application that is still going to the cinemas, if you will allow me the pun.
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Source : www.applesfera.com