Multimedia is defined as the merging of more than one medium, but usually more than two, since cinema, television and video use at least two media but are not usually called multimedia . The word multimedia refers almost exclusively to computer technology and includes text, still and animated graphics, sound, music and video. Though multimedia has been available as stored data on CD-ROM for a number of years, support for multimedia on the Internet was limited to text and a few static graphics until the early 1990s, when the introduction of the Mosaic browser software revolutionised the way users experienced the World Wide Web . Users could now experience true, real-time multimedia, whereas before the advent of Mosaic sound files, animations or large image files had to be downloaded from an ftp (file transfer protocol) site and listened to / viewed on the user's computer while offline (not connected to the Internet).
Early use of multimedia on the Internet required users to obtain special software known as helper applications [21], which were offered for free download from company web-sites . These applications allowed users to experience aspects of certain media (i.e. to hear sound clips or to view video ) by instructing the user's computer to identify the media clip as a certain type of file.
This software is still available in two forms
- Media players
A player is a program downloaded into the user's computer which automatically opens to play a certain kind of file when that file is accessed on the Internet . A player can also be used to play back the relevant files when the user is offline and the files are stored on the computer or on a storage medium such as a floppy disk. This allows media files to be archived from the Internet even when the user has no appropriate software with which to play back the files, and can be saved until a later date.
- Plugins
A plug-in decodes and executes files directly through the browser, with no need to download files into the user's hard disk. Many of today's browsers include several plug-ins, not only to make the Internet experience more enjoyable and less complicated for the user, but also to gain a commercial edge over competitors. The main advantage of plug-ins is that they allow designers to build multimedia interfaces (such as play, pause and volume control buttons for Real Audio) directly into web pages.
User interface for the Winamp MP3 player
(available from www.winamp.com)
As browser technology improved, multimedia -enabling technologies such as the Java programming language were incorporated into browser applications [22], and it is hoped that one day there will be no need for the user to download endless helper applications, particularly for the more popular multimedia file formats such as Real Audio and Macromedia Flash files.
As a result of these helper applications, many recording artists can offer promotional videos as well as sound clips for viewing directly from their web-sites . For example, Massive Attack offer the videos for their most recent singles Risingson and Teardrop in both Real Video and QuickTime, while The Prodigy allow fans to view the complete promotional clip for Smack My Bitch Up, which was censored (or even banned) by many British television stations due to its sensitive subject.
Still from the Massive Attack video 'Teardrop" in Real Video
Warning which precedes The Prodigy 's Smack My Bitch Up video
Still from The Prodigy video Smack My Bitch Up in Real Video
Back: Webzines | Contents | Next: Bandwidth problems