Multimedia :: science

Mul sentencediaAs a technology, it is called multimedia. As a revolution, it is the center field of many revolutions wrapped into one A revolution in communion that combines the audio visual power of television, the publishing power of the impression press, and the interactive power of the computer. Multimedia is the convergence of these different professions, once cerebration fencesitter of one another, coming together to form a sunrise(prenominal) expert approach to the way schooling and ideas are shared. What pass on gild come across 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 morn digital age in which the humble television will mutate into a bipartisan medium for a vast metre of culture and entertainment. We sight expect to see movies-on-demand, video games, databases, educational programming, office shopping, hol lo 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, let consumers tune into anything, anywhere, anytime. The most extraordinary thing about the multimedia boom, is that so many moguls are lapseing such(prenominal) vast sums to stop digital technologies, for the cedeing of programs and services which are still largely hypothetical. So what is butt such grand prophecies? Primarily, two technological advances known as digitisation (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, each 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 transmitting force or bandwidth. Fibre-optic tunes are producing a vast plus in the amount of bandwidth available. Made of glass so pure that a airplane of it 70 miles thick would be as clear as a window-pane, and the solitary strand of optical fibre the width of a benevolent hair can carry 1,000 times as more than information as all radio frequencies put together. This expansion of bandwidth is what is devising two-way communication, or interactivity, possible. Neither digitization nor fibre optics is new. But it was but this stratum that Americas two biggest cable-TV owners, TCI and Time Warner , said they would spend $2 billion and $5 billion respectively to deploy twain technologies in their systems, which together serve a third 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 power of t elevision, 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 consumers 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 solitary 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.