Comment Re:Once again (Score 0, Redundant) 183
Non-technical problems, such as H.264 requiring licensing patents.
Patents are specifically intended to restrict usage of technology (to those who are inclined to pay for it).
So - a royalty-free product which produces comparable (if slightly inferior) results *should* become the ubiquitously available option. It is as it should be.
I very much doubt, however, that Apple and Microsoft will include Theora in their web browsers or in the iPhone. I think it is much more likely that the patent-encumbered option is set to become more ubiquitous than the free option, due to corporate politics. (After all, neither Apple's or Microsoft's products support Theora or Vorbis out of the box now.)