I have to deliver 2-ish GB media files to customers (zipped up) after purchase. Any advice on how to deliver such big files to the general population (translated: novice internet users who will not be savvy enough to use FTP or something).
We can build a download manager for Windows users, but I doubt we'll be able to get one for Mac/Linux. Is there a standard solution I don't know about?
Thanks!
For most users on a high speed internet connection, novice or not, a direct HTTP download link is likely sufficient. Just be sure that your HTTP responses for both HEAD and GET return the Content-Length header so that users get an accurate progress bar for their download.
In my opinion, the only other reasonable option for novices is probably a download manager. You could of course build your own (possibly using a product like Real Basic to quickly code for all 3 platforms)
There are a number of companies out there that have off the shelf "download assistants" as well. May want to take a look at what companies like Adobe are using for their software downloads.
EDIT: Turns out Adobe uses a custom AIR application for their "download assistant" which is a cross platform option as well.