 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Carol Daniels cad@melbpc.org.au |
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Multimedia: you only have to whisper it in a crowded room and you can almost see people's ears prick up. Like e-mail, the Internet, the World Wide Web and home pages, multimedia is one of those techno-buzz words that has well and truly crossed the geek/ non-geek divide. Everyone is interested in multimedia. Trouble is, as with most buzz words - ask ten people what it means and you are likely to get a ten different answers.
To the trad-geeks (motto: "Real Geeks don't click") multimedia is a beep accompanying a scrolling error message. And a waste of grunt.
While the rad-geeks (motto: "Script Java, don't drink it") want full-motion video, an original soundtrack and an interactive story line before they'll even look at it.
On the other side of the divide neo-luddites (Motto: "A pox upon industrial technology") would say surtitles at the opera is a form of multimedia. And an abomination to boot.
While trendoids (motto: "More, Now!") salivate at the thought of integrated input that stimulates all five senses - sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell - delivered on demand via a cable modem, thank you.
Occupying the middle ground in both camps are the utilitarians (motto: "Function before form") who care more about what it does, how it does it, and at what cost, than what it's called.
Who is right? From where I sit, all of them are right. Because each definition addresses the interests, needs and objectives of a different group.
So what's the point?
The point is knowing what you want or need when you go to make a purchase decision. Your decisions should be based on whether a product does what you need. Remember, too, that the company behind a product has a position on what multimedia is or should be. And that perspective will underpin the company's product development and implementation. Sounds obvious I know. But the more obvious, the easier it is to forget, especially in the face of a marketing juggernaut.
I don't have the answers, I don't even have a sound card in my PC!
But then, I'm turned on by text, the magic of words on paper. The way they work, or don't work. Not a surprising obsession for a writer. Still, I do recognise that there are subjects that are well suited to the strengths of multimedia, even some that are better suited to a multimedia approach than any other. But even those multimedia products that aim to illuminate great works of literature don't appeal to me. Yet. Because I also like books, in fact, like's probably too weak a word for how I feel about books. I get real pleasure from them. Not just reading them either, I love the way they look, feel and smell.
I'm no neo-luddite (see more about neo-luddites in Alistair Lloyd's article). I'm not even a techno-sceptic. If anything I'm a utilitarian, at least when it comes to work. When it comes to play, well that's a different story.
I use my computer more for work than for play. So for me, the benefits of multimedia don't yet outweigh the costs. That won't always be the case. Eventually my needs and what the industry offers will converge. Costs will come down and my needs will change. Until then I'm happy to devote all my computer's processing power to textual matters and leave the Rolling Stones and Bessie Smith CDs to my stereo system.
I am excited by the prospect of multimedia projects aimed at improving the quality and diversity of distance education, especially if the technology enables greater participation in the process. Giving more people access to a wider range of subjects or making it feasible to deliver training in highly specialised, technical subjects to small numbers in different locations, are noble aims. Blindly embracing technology for technology's sake is not.
Other applications of multimedia technology with the potential to change our lives include telemedicine and low-cost video conferencing.
In theory, using multimedia technology to deliver medical services could be beneficial, as long as everyone remembers that health and healing involve more than efficiency and diagnosis. The human touch is essential - and can never be delivered via a modem.
Equally attractive, at least at first glance, is the prospect of affordable, small-scale video-conferencing. This could be a boon to small businesses wanting to tap into wider, even global, markets. On second thought though, having a video camera mounted beside the monitor might not be that appealing to the average small-business operator.
For one thing it wouldn't be easy to project an image that your micro-business is more substantial than it really is - as depicted in a current television advertisement. I mean, who would be impressed to see your laundry drying in the background as you peck at your computer's keyboard in your jammies?
Some practical advice
Don't tinker with your system settings, install software or fiddle with your hardware at two in the morning - or at any hour if it has been more than 20 hours since you last slept. I can tell you from personal experience that what seems a brilliant idea at 3 am, will invariably lead to grief. Idiotic mistakes that stick out like the proverbial dog's ...er... make that a sore thumb, in the light of day, slip right past you when your mind is starved of sleep.
And if you aren't 100 percent sure you can back your way out of any change, do a back up before you start. If you are a novice, backup, RTFM and confine your fiddling to between the hours of 9 am and 9 pm (between these hours, Melb PC's Dial Help volunteers will greet your call with a smile not a snarl).
Reprinted from the June 1996 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
