Cut Off in Midstream
By Lincoln D. Stein
Over the years, the Web development community has come up with some pretty kooky ideas, and by and large I've been able to spot them in advance. Examples include server push, Web-based grocery stores, and the idea that advertising alone will float a Web site. Sometimes I've completely missed a trend, for example, the concept that wiring your home with digital cameras and broadcasting your life to the world would actually attract a large number of viewers. And sometimes, I've been dead wrong.
One topic on which I've been dead wrong is streaming, which I derided a year or so ago as a misguided attempt to turn the Web into television. Streaming takes a live audio or video source, and transmits it in real time to whoever happens to be listening.
Audio streaming has become a popular way of transmitting live radio programs over the Internet. Video streaming is less widely used because of the bandwidth requirements, but content providers have used it with some success to retransmit television broadcasts and ever-present Web pornography. The most widely used streaming technology is the Real Player protocol, a product of Real.com. However, several other streaming technologies are available, including Apple's QuickTime, Microsoft's MediaPlayer, and the open-source MPEG standard.
My argument against streaming, roughly, was this: Why would people squander bandwidth on a passive experience that's no different from radio or television? The essence of the Web, I wrote, is its interactivity.
