Multimedia for information representation

Question 1

What is media?

Answer 1

One of the means or channels of general communication, information or entertainment in society

Question 2

What is multimedia?

Answer 2

Use of multiple forms of representation of the content of a message in order to convey the meaning of that message to its intended audience in the most effective way possible

Question 3

Constraints of creating digital multimedia

Answer 3

• limitations in software and hardware

- converting from analog to digital multimedia

Question 4

What is the dream for the web as a communication medium?

Answer 4

The web should enable documents containing information in any blend of media, that can be accessed and viewed by ANY user with ANY browser.

Question 5

List some main drivers of innovation in multimedia usage

Answer 5

Recreational web, creative design, publishing on the web, education on the web, business on the web

Question 6

What is the challenge with involving ‘traditional media’ in the creation of digital multimedia?

Answer 6

• Content that works well in traditional media may not translate well on the web.
• The complex nature of web tech. could prove to be too much for practitioners of other disciplines.

Question 7

What is the challenge with involving IT professionals in the creation of digital multimedia?

Answer 7

• Specialised skill in the technology does not mean that the level of skill translates to content creation (expert at Photoshop tools, terrible graphic designer)

Question 8

What are some methods for solving the multimedia file size problem?

Answer 8

• File compression (loss-less and lossy)
• Simplification (removing elements from a page)
• Reduce actual size of page elements
• Trade-off quality against file size

Question 9

What are some challenges that come with the diverse number of viewing devices in modern times?

Answer 9

• More factors need to be taken into account when designing a webpage (screen size, page scrolling, screen res., quality of sound).
• Increased user expectations (no lagging, muddy colours)

Question 10

What is an issue with viewing the many different types of multimedia?

Answer 10

Plug-ins and helper apps. were required on the client to load and properly access the MIME type.