Gregory,
I'm a bit busy, but I'll have access to an IE machine soon (they're so
elusive these days ;-) so I'll try out the Java solution. I don't think
a reasonably well-policed dual format policy which strikes a balance
between usability and openness would be such a terrible thing, but
patent-encumbered formats should only be a last resort, and we should
spend some more time thinking about how to improve the situation without
taking such potentially divisive steps.
I don't know what caused the troubles at Wikimania - your explanation is
probably correct. As for how users in general perceive the situation, it
might be desirable for us to set up a survey to ask our users, or to
pull an Ellen Reitmeyer and do a real usability test. However, at the
moment, videos on Wikimedia are so elusive that it might not make much
sense.
My own little video contribution, taken during a visit to a Leonardo da
Vinci exhibition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flywheel
More later,
Erik