Multimedia :: science

Mul timediaAs a technology, it is c eached multimedia. As a diversity, it is the sum of many revolutions wrapped into one A revolution in communication that combines the audio visual military unit 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 supposition independent of one another, coming together to form a recent technological approach to the way information and ideas are shared. What give society touch sensation like under the evolving institutions of interactive multimedia technologies? Well, if the 1980s were a time for media tycoons, the 1990s will be for the self-styled visionaries. These gurus see a dawning digital age in which the humble television will mutate into a 2-way medium for a vast amount of information and entertainment. We whoremonger take to see movies-on-demand, video games, databases, educational programming, home shopping, telephon e services, telebanking,teleconferencing, even the labyrinthian simulations of virtual reality. This souped-up television will itself be a powerful computer. This, many believe, will be the worlds biggest media group, letting consumers tune into anything, anywhere, anytime. The most incomparable 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 mostly 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, every 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 tail assembly be sent using a given amount of transmission capacitance 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 unfrequented strand of optical fibre the width of a human hair can carry 1,000 times as much information as all radio frequencies put together. This expansion of bandwidth is what is making two-way communication, or interactivity, possible. Neither digitization nor fibre optics is new. But it was only this year that Americas two biggest cable-TV owners, TCI and Time Warner , said they would spend $2 billion and $5 billion individually to deploy both technologies in their systems, which together serve a trinity of Americas 60m cable homes.Multimedia scienceMultimediaAs 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 pow er 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 1980s were a time for media tycoons, the 1990s will be for the self-styled visionaries. These gurus see a dawning digital age in which the humble television will mutate into a two-way medium for a vast amount of information and entertainment. We can expect to see movies-on-demand, video games, databases, educational programming, home shopping, telephone services, telebanking,teleconferencing, even the complex simulations of virtual reality. This souped-up television will itself be a powerful computer. This, many believe, will be the worlds biggest media group, letting con sumers tune into anything, anywhere, anytime. The most 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 so litary strand of optical fibre the width of a human hair can carry 1,000 times as much information as all radio frequencies put together. This expansion of bandwidth is what is making two-way communication, or interactivity, possible. Neither digitization nor fibre optics is new. But it was only this year that Americas two biggest cable-TV owners, TCI and Time Warner , said they would spend $2 billion and $5 billion respectively to deploy both technologies in their systems, which together serve a third of Americas 60m cable homes.