Source: http://lifehacker.com/im-alan-schaaf-fou...

I think the GIFv format is great, but some people really seem reluctant to switch to a MP4-based format. Do you think old fashioned GIFs will always be around despite being the less efficient option?

Yes, I do, and that’s exactly how it should be. GIFs (pronounced like “jif”) have a lot of great qualities. They’re self-contained muted looping little pieces of instant gratification that work everywhere. They’re almost perfect. Where GIFs fall short is they’re quality and filesize. We created GIFv to provide a high-quality alternative to the GIF that keeps the file size down, and immediately starts playing before it’s even downloaded all the way. This means that when you browse Imgur, the experience is much faster and looks better than it otherwise would. It also allows us to do some pretty exciting things with GIFs in our mobile apps. However, for every day sharing outside of Imgur, the regular GIF is still great and GIFv wasn’t meant to be a complete replacement.