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A Practitioner's Guide to Web Audio

By Eugene E. Kim

Several months ago, some colleagues and I wanted to Webcast a meeting so others could watch it remotely. My colleagues and I are knowledgeable and experienced technical people, and yet not one of us knew how to do it.

I was reminded of this incident as I read Josh Beggs' and Dylan Thede's Designing Web Audio: RealAudio, MP3, Flash, and Beatnik. At first, I didn't think I'd find the book very relevant to my needs. After all, how often is the average Web developer asked to enhance a Web site with sound effects? How often do you wish that the Google, ESPN.com, or WebTechniques.com sites played sound effects as you browsed?

It turns out that Designing Web Audio is about much more than sound effects, although the authors do cover this topic extensively. The book provides everything you need to know to Webcast a meeting or set up a streaming MP3 jukebox in your house. In short, Web audio may be more useful than you think.

Designing Web Audio: Real Audio, MP3, Flash, and Beatnik By Josh Beggs and Dylan Thede O'Reilly & Associates, 2001, 382 pp.<>