As A Technology, It Is Called Multimedia
. As a revolution, it is the sum
of many revolutions wrapped into one: A revolution in communication that
combines the audio visual power of television, the publishing power of the
printing press, and the interactive power of the computer. Multimedia is
the convergence of these different professions, once thought independent of
one another, coming together to form a new technological approach to the
way information and ideas are shared.
What will society look like under the evolving institutions of interactive
multimedia technologies? Well, if the 1980's were a time for media tycoons,
the 1990's will be for the self-styled visionaries. These gurus see a
dawning digital age in which ...
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extraordinary thing about the multimedia boom, is that so many
moguls are spending such vast sums to develop digital technologies, for the
delivering of programs and services which are still largely hypothetical.
So what is behind such grand prophecies? Primarily, two technological
advances known as digitization (including digital compression), and fibre
optics.
Both are indispensable to the high-speed networks that will deliver dynamic
new services to homes and offices. Digitization means translating
information, either video, audio, or text, into ones and zeros, which make
it easier to send, store, and manipulate. Compression squeezes this
information so that more of it can be sent using a given amount of
transmission capacity or bandwidth.
Fibre-optic cables are producing a vast increase in the amount of bandwidth
available. Made of glass so pure that a sheet of it 70 miles thick would
be as clear as a window-pane, and the solitary strand of optical fibre the
width of a ...
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race to be the first to lay solid infrastructure, and set new industry
standards. Following in the shadows will be mergers between: software,
film, television, publishing, and telephone industries, each trying to gain
market share in the emerging market.
So far, most firms have rejected the hostile takeovers that marked the
media business in the 1980s. Instead, they have favored an array of
alliances and joint ventures akin to Japan's loose-knit Keiretsu business
groupings. TCI's boss, John Malone, evokes "octopuses with their hands in
each other's pockets-where one starts and the other stops will be hard to
decide." These alliances represent a model of corporate structure ...
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As A Technology, It Is Called Multimedia. (2007, September 29). Retrieved November 22, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/As-A-Technology-It-Called-Multimedia/71922
"As A Technology, It Is Called Multimedia." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 29 Sep. 2007. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/As-A-Technology-It-Called-Multimedia/71922>
"As A Technology, It Is Called Multimedia." Essayworld.com. September 29, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/As-A-Technology-It-Called-Multimedia/71922.
"As A Technology, It Is Called Multimedia." Essayworld.com. September 29, 2007. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/As-A-Technology-It-Called-Multimedia/71922.
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