The Maturing of the Compact Disc
3"
3 tc "The Maturing of the Compact Disc
When Sony and Philips developed the compact audio disc, they never
thought about using it as a computer storage device, or for anything
other than music. But the massive scale of production for both consumer
cd drives and the discs themselves became an irresistible lure to the
computer and multimedia industry.
The result is a hodge-podge of competing formats and interests that has
done more to hinder than help the emerging cd-rom market. This market is
now showing signs of maturity, however, as compatibility becomes
paramount, and formats either solidify their positions or fall by the
wayside.
Kodakís Photo CD Gamble
5 tc "Kodakís Photo CD Gamble
5"
Several years ago, Kodak realized that it faced a challenge: The
companyís core business of serving the amateur photography market was
coming under attack from Japanese consumer electronics companies armed
with camcorders and still-video technology.
Kodak hit upon an ingenious counter-strategy: combine the advantages of
film photography with the attraction of being able to view images on a
television screen and the advantages of having images in digital form.
The result is Photo CD. Kodak is wagering heavily that John Q. Public
will pay for the thrill of viewing his vacation photos on tv. Is this a
safe bet?
Apple Closes the Multimedia Lab
10"
10 tc "Apple Closes the Multimedia Lab
In an industry where there is always something newer and better, it is
somehow satisfying to hear about a job well done, a project that has
served its purpose and come to its natural end. But to bring to an end a
project that has influenced the work of so many individualsÝóÝand, in
fact, helped shape a new medium of communicationÝóÝcan also be
bittersweet.
The lab leaves behind a rich legacy of technical reports and books,
educational videotapes, interactive prototype research, and, of course,
real commercial products.
2
Update
Cooperation on the horizon.
14
Tandyís Gryphon
Introducing the Video Information SystemÝóÝPhilips beware.
15
AFI-Apple Center celebrates B-Day
Expands programs and hires Harry Marks as creative director.
18
Apple Performas take a bow
New variety of Macintosh designed for the home.
19
Franklinís DBS
Digital books, not satellites, from the electronic book specialists.
20
Catching the digital information wave
Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen lets no grass grow under his feet.
21
Muzak for the video age
JC Penney, GTE Spacenet and Capital Cities/ABC partnership.
22
Briefs
British Telecom to create international data net; Dark Vision to make
interactive comics; Sybase, Gain and Santa Fe Interactive; (Not) an IBM
pda
24
Events
National Communications Forum 1992
Coming attractions tc "Coming attractions"
Bringing new technology to consumer markets
The big news coming out of the consumer electronics industry is not that
the entire spectrum of home entertainment products are becoming digital
óÝthat is no big surprise. What is encouraging, is that these companies
are looking to cooperate with other interests from the entertainment and
computer industry.
A number of new products and technologies will be during over the next
nine months in the consumer electronics and home entertainment markets.
Digital vcrs. Digital video recorders should roll out of Japan and into
consumer markets sometime in 1993.
The manufacturersÝóÝSony, Matsushita, et al.ÝóÝare determined to retain
existing ìhigh-endî vcr special effects and editing functions in these
devices. Therefore, these new vcrs will use a compression scheme that
compresses and decompresses each frame individuallyÝóÝunlike mpeg and its
ilk. As a consequence, they will not compress data all that much, which
is not a problem when recording to tape.
One benefit of this approach is that the image quality should be
appreciably higher than that which can be achieved with a routine such as
mpeg, which sacrifices image quality for much higher compression ratios.
In fact, the digital image quality should be better than both the s-vhs
and Hi-8mm formats.
CableLabs target is approaching. With CableLabs planning to select a
video compression scheme by November, Dick Green, CableLabsí president,
believes that the cable industry will be able to send digital signals
directly to the home within two years.
The economic incentive is to pick a scheme that will allow up to 10
channels of compressed digital video to be transmitted in the same
bandwidth currently required to carry a single analog channel. If the
company is to achieve this, the scheme it chooses should also work for
delivering a single channel of video over twisted-pair phone lines, and
it might even work for recording full-motion video on current-generation
cds.
Hereís where it gets interesting. CableLabs and the Japanese consumer
electronics companies have been cooperating to insure that the new
digital vcrs will be able to record digital cable broadcasts. The most
likely solution will be to build into the recorders the capability to
bypass the ìnativeî compression routine and record all 10 channels of
compressed cable data directly onto tape.
The cable decompression/decoder box, wired between the vcr and the tv
set, could then be used to select one of the 10 channels, decompress it,
and feed the signal to the tv.
From all indications, this should be the first of many cooperative,
international efforts to take hold in the home entertainment and
information arena.
Jonathan SeyboldÝ
Maturing of the Compact Disc tc "Maturing of the Compact Disc"
As Kodak rolls out Photo CD and Tandy introduces the Video Information
System, the CD industry grows up tc "As Kodak rolls out Photo CD and
Tandy introduces the Video Information System, the CD industry grows up"
When Sony and Philips developed the compact audio disc, they had one
purpose in mind: to create a new medium that would deliver the highest
quality stereo sound, unprecedented dynamic range, and freedom from the
background noise that plagues tapes and records. Taking advantage of
existing technology, the Sony engineers did most of the work in less than
nine months.
The development team never thought about using the cd as a computer
storage deviceÝóÝor indeed, about using it for anything other than music.
Much of the technical specifications seem to have been chosen by default,
not forethought.
The sampling rate (44.1 khz) was chosen because Sony had digital tape
decks (built around video recorder components) that already sampled at
this rate. The size of the disc was chosen so that it would be as small
as possible, but still large enough to hold Herbert Von Karajanís
interpretation of Beethovenís Ninth Symphony. ìRandom accessî meant being
able to access individual tracks within a few seconds.
However, as soon as audio cds became successful, people began to look for
ways to use them as an inexpensive computer storage medium. Since the
objective was to piggyback the massive scale of production for both cd
readers and the discs themselves, the computer industry ìadaptersî could
not change any of the physical characteristics of the discs. The data
storage capabilities and the data transfer rates were locked in stone.
What they could (and did) change were the ways in which information is
recorded on the disc.
The most important difference is in the allowable error rate. A one-bit
error every few seconds is unnoticeable in a musical passage, but it
would render computer data utterly unreliable. The mathematics of errorcorrecting codes had already been well developed, largely for the
telecommunications industry; by using sufficient redundancy in the code,
any desired level of reliability could be achieved. So the computer
inventors cheerfully sacrificed some of the compact discís vast storage
capacity for error-proofing, and some more for the directories and fileheader structures that a computer needs to make sense of any data.
Thus was born compact discÝñÝread only memory, or cd-rom. Its designers,
like the earlier Sony engineers, had one goal in mind: a cheap medium for
distributing software and data files. With strong leadership from the
dominant player in the personal computer industry, Microsoft, the data
format was standardized in short order (well, relative to other computer
standards) and cd-romís acceptance seemed assured.
One good turnÝ.Ý.Ý.ÝBut like crabgrass in the flower bed, further
refinements of the basic format sprang up almost overnight. The
fundamental problem was that different constituencies were trying to
adapt cd technology to different purposes. The mainstream of the cd-rom
ìindustryî has been (and remains) distribution of text databases. Most of
the hype, however, has focused on sexier ìmultimediaî applications that
require the user be presented with text, sound and motion concurrently.
A one-bit error every few seconds
is unnoticeable in a musical
passage, but it would render computer data utterly unreliable.
The Holy Grail for many people in the industry has been to sell this
technology into the home, either in the form of a home personal computer
that will support cd-rom-based multimedia, or via cd-rom ìplayers,î which
will hook up to the consumerís television set.
A hodge-podge. So different groups, with different priorities and
objectives, began to develop new ideas for how best to use this cheap
storage medium. Their legacy is a hodge-podge of competing and
incompatible flavors and formats of cd-rom. Each new format allowed the
basic digital medium to address some new niche:
ï
The original High Sierra standard (which became ISO 9660) was
designed with the ms-dos file system in mind. (No surprise there, given
Bill Gatesís level of involvement.) Independently, Apple adapted the
basic data layout to support the Macintosh filing system, HFS. Not to be
outdone, the Unix community had developed its own format to support the
Unix file system. Fortunately, the Unix and Mac software architectures
are flexible enough to accommodate foreign file systems such as 9660 by
simply installing a software driver. The principal consequence has been
to make extra work for publishers who want their content to be readable
across platforms.
Their strategies and
targets are quite different,
but Kodak and Tandy are
displaying a savvy about the technologies and markets.
Microsoft, naturally, wanted the home multimedia player to be
based on Microsoft technology. For a long time, it saw cd-rom-based
multimedia as a means of getting a (Microsoft) pc into every home.
However, the enormous diversity of pc peripherals and configurations has
not provided a single, consistent ìtarget platformî for people interested
in developing multimedia titles. Working with Tandy and other hardware
manufacturers, Microsoft attempted to remedy this by coming up with a
standard mpc (Multimedia Personal Computer) specification, which required
a Windows/mpc-compatible cd-rom drive.
ï
Cd-rom/xa (extended architecture) enabled the interleaving of cdaudio segments with computer code segments on the same track, allowing
continuous sound within an animation sequence of a game program, for
example. Currently, most cd-rom players automatically recognize the
difference between audio and computer data, steering each to its
appropriate jacks on the back of the cabinetÝóÝstereo output or serial
connector.
ï
Philipsí cd-i used the basic cd-rom
wanted a consumer-entertainment appliance
ìinfo-tainment.î They chose a nonstandard
chip, which meant that cd-i software will
computerÝóÝand vice versa.
data format. But its developers
for animations, games and
operating system and processor
not run on any personal
Philips, however, has been the first to demonstrate high-quality,
full-motion video playback on enhanced cd-i players. This may give it an
important leg-up in the interactive multimedia player market. (See Vol.
2, No. 1, p. 17, for more on Philipsí recent announcements.)
ï
Kodakís Photo CD makes just one wee change to the basic cd-rom/xa
format: it allows the disc to be updated by adding new information at a
later time. The trouble is, the controller chip inside most current cdrom players will refuse to read past the information that was written in
the first recording session. (Remember, cd-rom was designed for bulk
distribution, with all the information gathered and organized
beforehand.) ìMultisessionî drives without this restriction are just now
coming into the market. Some older xa drives can be ìupgradedî with the
addition of new driver software.
ï
There are a host of other formats, including cd+g, cd+midi, CDTV,
the proprietary formats for the Sega and Nintendo game machines, and
others.
This summer saw two significant events that are evidence of the growing
maturity of the interactive cd-rom industry: Kodak launched Photo CD into
the consumer market and announced significant commercial enhancements to
the format. And Tandy introduced a direct competitor to the Philips cd-i
home multimedia system called Video Information System, or VIS.
The strategies and targets of these two companies are quite different,
but each is displaying a savvy about the technologies it is developing
and the markets it is trying to conquer (see related stories, p. 5 and
14).
The industry grows up. After 10 years of this mess of initials, the
industry that developed around the compact disc seems to be maturing.
Either through market acceptance or sheer will, certain cd formats are
solidifying their positions, while others have fallen by the wayside. For
their part, the survivors are increasingly willing to acknowledge
benefits of alternate formats and to work through compatibility issues.
That doesnít mean you can now use every cd technology with your Mac or pc
or in every cd player. There is still the small matter of software thatís
needed to make sense of incoming data. But the incompatibilities among
the many cd-based media are slowly resolving themselves. While some
platforms, like the cd-based game machines, are intended to be single
function, most cd-based devices, including the next generation of ìplain
oldî cd audio players, will soon be able to handle more than one format.
In most cases, the incompatibilities can be overcome if itís worth
someoneís while to write the code.
After a thousand flowers bloom tc "After a thousand flowers bloom"
Technology seems to move in waves; first there is a rush of inventions,
none of which are quite compatible with the others, as people explore and
exploit the potential of a new medium. Later comes the consolidation, as
people figure out how to make one gadget handle all the various
alternatives (and as the less-popular inventions are ignored and die
off). Cd-rom seems to be entering that phase now.
Cd-rom had to overcome the
market fragmentation that
occurs when a technology
is developed by a huge number
of competing interests over
the course of many years.
The cd-rom as an interactive, mass-storage medium had two challenges
facing it from the start: First, it was never intended to do anything
other than deliver sequential music through a home sound system. Once
everyone in the computer industry decided that the cost savings inherent
in piggybacking a mass-produced consumer product were too irresistible to
pass up, cd-rom had to overcome the market fragmentation that occurs when
a technology is developed by a huge number of competing interests over
the course of many years. The latter issue now seems to be resolving
itself, and compression technologies are, for the moment, compensating
for the former.
The cd world has matured. Only one invention, the blue laser (which,
because of its finer beam, would be able to pack much more data onto a
disc), is even visible on the horizon. Several companies will offer
double-speed drives that will spin the disc at twice the speedÝóÝand thus
double the rate at which data comes off the disc (and halve the playing
time), but this represents a tweak rather than a fundamental change.
Other companies are trying to develop magneto-optical technology to
ultimately replace the cd-rom.
All of these represent only distant threats; the whole point of cd is
low-cost access to content, and blue lasers or faster drives arenít going
to be cheap for a long time. In the meantime, the ìgood ol,î cd-rom is
finally starting to come into its own.
Peter Dyson, Jonathan Seybold, David BaronÝ
Kodakís Photo CD Gamble tc "Kodakís Photo CD Gamble"
Will Photo CD save
from going the way
the buggy whip? tc
from going the way
the buggy whip?"
Kodakís core business
of
"Will Photo CD save Kodakís core business
of
Several years ago, Kodak realized that it faced a challenge: The
companyís core business of selling film, chemistry and photographic paper
to serve the amateur photography market was coming under attack from the
Japanese consumer electronics companies. Camcorders were getting smaller
and less expensiveÝóÝand sales were beginning to take off. In the longer
term, the Japanese were working on new generations of still-video and digital cameras that would allow consumers to take photographs that could
be displayed on their television sets and/or fed into computers.
Kodak hit upon an ingenious counter-strategy: combine the advantages of
film photography (very high resolution, excellent rendition of colors,
the capability to make inexpensive, high-quality prints, and a huge
infrastructure of cameras, photo stores and photo finishers) with the
attraction of being able to view images on a television screen and the
advantages of having images in digital form.
The result is Photo CD.
The key ingredients. There are two key technical foundations for Photo
CD. The first is the technology for creating inexpensive write-once
(nonerasable) cds that can be read by a standard cd player.
The second foundation is the data format. This includes a standard ìcolor
spaceî based on analog hdtv standards, a clever data format for storing
compressed digital images (see Kodakís Photo CD Formats, p. 6), and the
indexing information required to retrieve stored images.
Almost as important, Kodak has put a lot of effort into the tools
necessary to make all of the disparate parts work together, including
fast and relatively inexpensive scanners for capturing large volumes of
images, hardware and software systems for high-volume recording of cds,
and automatic color correction and color compensation software for
ìfixingî John Q. Publicís underexposed vacation photographs.
Photo CD for consumers tc "Photo CD for consumers"
Kodakís consumer strategy is based upon three assumptions:
1.
It can be easy and inexpensive for consumers to
convert film images to disc;
2.
Kodak will be able to get Photo CD players into
consumersí homes; and
3.
Consumers will want to view their photographs on
their tv sets.
On the first score, Kodak expects that before the year is out it will
have convinced several thousand photo finishers to pony up the $100,000
or so that the disc-making system will cost. Next year, Kodak thinks that
installations will skyrocket as every one-hour lab in the country jumps
on the bandwagon. This schedule appears to be overly ambitious.
The minimum equipmentÝóÝKodakís model 2400 35mm scanner, a writable cd
drive, a Sun workstation and some softwareÝóÝcosts less than $100,000 and
Kodak will undoubtedly advertise the starting price. But photo finishing
is a low-margin, high-volume business, and a minimal system canít turn
out the discs fast enough to make money. A system that canÝóÝa second
disc-writer drive, a gigabyte or two of buffer storage, 100 mb or more
memory for the computerÝóÝwill easily hit the hundred-grand mark.
Once the disc-makers are ubiquitous, it will indeed be convenient to turn
your snapshots into digits. Your Kodak-authorized photo finisher will
develop the film, scan it, automatically correct the color and write it
out to the disc. The whole process wonít take much longer than it now
takes to make 4×5-inch prints. As to cost, Kodak estimates that a 12-shot
roll can be developed, written to disc and packed in a jewel case,
complete with a ìcontact sheetî of thumbnails, for $20.
The player.ÝAssumption 2 is based on Kodakís hope that all cd audio and
cd-rom manufacturers will eventually build Photo CD capabilities into
their players. New multimedia cd drives will likely support Photo CD.
Philips, for one, announced a year ago that it was building support for
Photo CD into its cd-i players.
However, consumer sales of cd-iÝóÝor of any other consumer multimedia
productsÝóÝhave hardly been strong enough to create the market Kodak
needs. And, the manufacturers of cd audio players are not likely to build
in the added cost of Photo CD support until they are convinced that
consumers really want Photo CD capabilities. So Kodak will try to jump
start the market by offering its own audio/Photo CD player (manufactured
by Philips).
A basic Photo CD player looks just like an audio disc player, and it will
play audio cds. It hooks to your tv like a vcr and is operated by a vcrlike remote control. With it, you can sequence the pictures from one
disc, including dropping certain pictures from the playback. Your
sequence cannot be stored with the disc, however, and will be forgotten
as soon as you insert the next disc. It initially will cost about $450.
Kodak figures that people will want to do a bit more than just step
sequentially through their rolls of film. They will want to build slide
shows about specific vacations or birthdays, showing only the best
pictures. Thus, it also will offer a deluxe player, which features 2×
close-ups and extra memory for storing multi-disc sequences. Later in the
year, Kodak will add a five-disc carousel model to the lineup.
Photo CD players went on sale in the U.S. in August. As expected, initial
sales have been spotty.
Chicken and egg.ÝPhoto CD images displayed on a good tv set look
stunning. The crucial question, however, is how many consumers are going
to pay the additional $250 over the cost of a standard audio cd player,
or around $450, for the privilege of viewing photographs on their
televisions.
If enough of them do, consumer electronics companies will be convinced to
build Photo CD capabilities into all of their players and the photo labs
and photo finishers will be convinced to buy the necessary equipment.
Otherwise, all bets are off.
Snapshots, and then what?ÝBeyond players, Kodak does not have a good
consumer solution for the photographic pleasureÝof creating photo albums.
It does have software for picture editing: sharpening, cropping and
color-correcting pictures, adding music, titles and commentary. However,
the software runs only on robust Macintoshes or Windows pcs equipped with
an expensive write-once cd drive. This is sophisticated equipment, and it
is doubtful whether more than a few gadgeteers will buy the necessary
hardware and figure out how to use the software.
Most consumers who want Photo CD albums will have to take their existing
photo discs, audio clips and music on cassette, and script notes to their
local photo finisher to assemble their albums. Kodakís literature makes
it sound like the photo finisher can set up do-it-yourself kiosks where
people will assemble their own albums. But editing sound cuts and image
transitions takes quite a bit of practice, and the people who are
interested in doing it themselves tend to invest in the tools. Everyone
else either lets a pro do the work or skips the whole thing. It is
unlikely that the photo finishers will also become multimedia producers,
although this could eventually become a profitable side business if there
is enough interest.
Commercial applications
tc "Commercial applications "
If you add everything upÝóÝthe cost of the players, the investment in
equipment and training required by the photo finisher, the caution of the
Japanese cd audio manufacturers (many of whom also have a stake in the
camcorder and still-video business), and the limitations of a plain
ìvanillaî Photo CD slide showÝóÝit is not likely that Photo CD will be an
instant raging success in the consumer market. Fortunately for Kodak, it
looks as if Photo CD is going to be a rapid success in commercial
markets. Indeed, commercial applications are going to be crucial to the
ultimate success of Photo CD. These applications can provide the initial
bread-and-butter volume for Kodak, and the professional photographer can
validate Photo CD as a legitimate extension of photography in the mind of
the amateur.
Because the Photo CD format is based on the cd-rom/xa data format, most
of these drives will read (or, with some additional software, can be made
to read) at least single-session Photo CD discs. Within a very short
time, virtually all new xa drives will be fully Photo CD compatible,
including support for multi-session discs.
Commercial applications are
going to be crucial to the
ultimate success of Photo CD. Professional photographers can validate
Photo CD as a legitimate extension of photography in
the mind of the amateur.
commercial applications are going to be crucial to the ultimate success
of Photo CD. These applications can provide the initial bread-and-butter
volume for Kodak, and the professional photographer can validate Photo CD
as a legitimate extension of photography in the mind of the amateur.
Kodak offers Photo CD Access software to allow Mac and Windows users to
read Photo CD discs. It also licenses a Photo CD Access developers tool
kit to software developers who want to build support for Photo CD images
into their programs. Apple has already announced that it will support
Photo CD in its next system software upgrade and Microsoft is expected to
do so shortly.
Currently, anyone who wishes to access Photo CD images must use Kodakís
software which, among other things, color corrects the image for
television display thus muting or losing some color. There are
applications for which this is inappropriate. Kodak has refused, however,
to publish the Photo CD data formats and allow unobstructed access to the
images.
On August 25, Kodak announced a slew of products intended to make Photo
CD more useful to a broader range of commercial applications. These
include:
ï
Four new Photo CD formats aimed at particular markets (see sidebar,
p. 6).
ï
A high-resolution ìprofessionalî Photo CD scanner that will scan
film sizes up to 4×5 inches at resolutions of up to 4,000×6,000 pixels.
(The standard scanner accepts only 35mm film and has a maximum resolution
of 2,000×3,000 pixels.)
ï
Faster workstations for mastering Photo CD discs.
ï
New end-user software for image retrieval and manipulation.
ï
A Kodak Picture Exchange worldwide Photo CD image transmission
service.
A big push.ÝPhoto CD is crucial to Kodakís long-term future. Kodak knows
as well as anyone that an all-digital future bodes ill for the silverbased film business that is Kodakís heart and soul. Kodakís true interest
lies in heading off any tendency for the market to standardize on stillvideo cameras, camcorders and any other all-electronic medium that would
cut into its film sales, and lock it out of the future of digital
photography.
But first Kodak is going to have to learn the lesson that every vendor in
the computer industry has been forced to learn: standards must be open.
In the consumer market, it is fine for Kodak to control technology to
insure that customers get Kodak quality from a Kodak process. In the
commercial market, Kodak is going to have to be prepared to publish all
its data formats and let other companies build hardware and software
products that make use of these formats.
Like all hybrids of old and new technology, Photo CD is only an interim
solution. Ultimately, silver film will go the way of the buggy whip, both
because all-digital is intrinsically simpler and because silver causes
nasty disposal problems at every step of the process. Thus, Kodakís
ultimate goal in pursuing Photo CD cannot be to stave off the demise of
film (though that is surely its interim goal). Rather, its strategy is to
move from being a marginal player in electronic imaging to being a
central, controlling player.
To do this, it must first become the player that defines the de facto
standards, then it must force the pace of innovation without losing the
loyalty of its existing customers. Photo CD is admirably positioned to
let Kodak do both.
Peter Dyson, Jonathan SeyboldÝ
Kodakís Photo CD Formats tc "Kodakís Photo CD Formats"
Photo CD Master. This is the original Photo CD format, the ìdigital
negativeî for the consumer market. It provides for up to 100 images per
disc, each one stored in all five resolutions:
ï
1/16 of standard tv quality, suitable for thumbnails and contact
sheets;
ï
º of standard tv quality;
ï
Base resolution, designed to be viewed on current tv sets;
ï
4×, equivalent to the proposed hdtv quality;
ï
16×, which captures digitally just about all of the information
that is in a 35mm snapshot (2,000×3,000 pixels).
The data is stored on the disc in a very clever manner. The first three
resolutions are stored without data compression. To view an image at
Level 4 (4×) additional information is added to the Level 3 (tv)
resolution to produce the higher-quality image. Level 5 (16×) adds still
more data to get up to the full resolution of the original scan. All of
this additional data is compressed. Therefore, the disc does not have to
hold five complete copies of each image. It only stores three lowresolution images and the necessary data to ìfill inî the missing detail.
On August 25, Kodak announced four additional formats.
Pro Photo CD. This is designed for professional photographers. It allows
higher resolution to capture the greater detail available from larger
film sizes (up to 4×5-inches), and thus must be made on a Professional
model scanner that not every photofinisher will have. Of particular
interest to professionals, the file format allows embedding copyright
notices within the picture data, and also permits encrypting the data as
well as ìwatermarkingî images, at least until payment for the image has
been received. Thus, the high-resolution versions of each image wonít be
compatible with the Master format. However, the thumbnail and baseresolution images will be compatible.
Photo CD Portfolio.ÝThis disc format is designed for entertainment
viewing of slide shows, or digital photo albums. Unlike the previous two
formats, which have all possible resolutions stored on the disc, the
Portfolio need only hold the display-resolution pictures. Dispensing with
the top-quality versions frees up disc space, enough to allow 800
pictures or an hour of cd-audio sound or any intermediate combination.
Portfolio discs cannot be made directly from 35mm film. Their content can
only be transferred from a Master or Pro CD, or from another Portfolio.
Photo CD Catalog.ÝThis format is designed as an index to 6,000 images.
Thus, it only has the low-resolution image format. But it also has
Kodakís Browser application software, which allows keyword searching of
an image database. Versions for dos, Windows and Macintosh will be able
to coexist on the same disc. Catalogís primary applications will be as a
sales tool for firms that sell images: stock photo houses, freelance
photographers and so on. However, it will also be used by catalog
retailers like L.L. Bean, which can display photographs of its entire
inventory, with prices, colors and ordering information, on a single
disk.
Photo CD Medical.ÝThis format, for specialized imaging requirements,
allows highly nonstandard data encoding. It will be useful to
radiologists, who can trade a lower color definition for greater grayscale resolution, and to geological researchers and others who use falsecolor mapping to enhance the detail in computer-generated images such as
sonograms, seismograms and satellite scans. This is the only format that
allows other forms of digital data to be encoded on the disc, like cat
scans, mri data, or digital satellite telemetry.
Peter DysonÝ
Appleís Multimedia Lab: A Linear History tc "Appleís Multimedia Lab\: A
Linear History"
After 5 years of research and turning prototypes into products, Appleís
think tank closes its doors tc "After 5 years of research and turning
prototypes into products, Appleís think tank closes its doors"
In an industry where there is always something newer and better, it is
somehow satisfying to hear about a job well done, a project that has
served its purpose and come to its natural end. But to bring to an end a
project that has influenced the work of so many individualsÝóÝand, in
fact, helped shape a new medium of communicationÝócan also be
bittersweet.
That feeling set the mood at the gathering held August 16 to mark the
upcoming closing of Apple Computerís Multimedia Lab on October 1. More
than 100 people attended the private event that signified the end of this
West Coast think tank, which for the past five years has been dedicated
to the research and development of the multimedia market. The lab leaves
behind a rich legacy of technical reports and books, educational
videotapes, interactive prototype research, and, of course, real
commercial products, including pioneers such as the Visual Almanac,
Interactive NOVA, MediaMaker and Life Story, among others.
Perhaps its greatest legacy will come from the people who worked there;
many of them are now spread out among the computer, consumer electronics,
entertainment and academic communities, implementing interactive media.
The lab has been the office/learning institute/hangout for some of the
most influential and talented designers in a new genre, including Michael
Naimark, Kristee Rosendahl, Sueann Ambron, Fabrice Florin, Steve
GanoÝóÝand, of course, its founding director, Kristina Hooper Woolsey,
who is now an Apple distinguished scientist.
ìIn my mind the products [we developed at the lab] were seminal,î says
former codirector of the lab, Sueann Ambron, now vice president of
advanced media for Paramountís Technology Group. It was, she explained,
the first time anyone created ìbrowsableî movies and ìrepurposedî video
on a computer. ìThe lab was an incredible catalyst.î
Brought to you by HyperCard.ÝCertainly, though, the labís beginnings were
not so grand. In fact, even today, the labÝóÝspread out among a few rooms
at 3220 Sacramento Street in San FranciscoÝóÝis unassuming, until you
notice the full video editing suite amid all the cables, chairs, couches,
Macintoshes, reams of paper, and whiteboards.
It officially opened in December 1987 when Apple rented one room on the
second floor of the Sacramento Street building. The arrival of HyperCard
is credited as the enabling factor that led to the labís existence, but
its genesis really dates back to the late 1970s when Woolsey ìsaw the
futureî while teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, home
of the granddaddy of multimedia think tanks, the Media Lab, then the
Architecture Machine Group.
MIT was experimenting with the impact that visuals and computing had on
the ability to learn. Woolsey decided then that it was her mission to get
ìthis stuff out of the labs and into the world,î she says. ìIt sounds
silly right now, but I was taken with the notion that I had to get this
stuff out, and if I wasnít careful it just wouldnít happen.î
The nonlinear path.ÝIt was by no means a direct route from that moment of
enlightenment to the existence of the lab. Upon her return to the West
Coast from MIT in 1979, Woolsey left her full-time teaching job at the
University of California at Santa Cruz and began working for Atari at the
height of the video game industryís popularity.
ìA lot of [the ideas for multimedia] really gained commercial momentum at
Atariî says Woolsey. And in fact, it was at Atari, where she met some of
the labís most influential collaborators, including Ambron, Rosendahl and
Naimark. Today, 80 percent of the people Woolsey works with at Apple came
from Atari.
ìIt is interesting to see how all these people have ërecongealedí,î says
Woolsey. ìIt is even more interesting to note the time it has taken to
get this set of ideas most of us knew out of the lab situation into the
real world. It took 10 years to bring this stuff into production.
ìI could say, ëEverything we have ever done in the lab, I understood in
1977,í and for all intents and purposes, I did. Putting movies into
computers and having people explore spaces, we did it all at MIT in a few
years. But it has taken a huge amount of work to figure out how to make
multimedia work on available technology, to understand what the
subtleties of the interface are when you ship it to a million people, and
to know what are the content areas that can be understood.î
Woolsey left Atari in 1985 and joined Apple to work in the Education
Research Group. For her, it was the perfect transition. ìWhat I wanted to
do,î she says, ìwas have motion video and sound [in a computer]. And at
the time, Apple was working on building the ultimate education computer.
I came here to help do that and to make sure it had sights and sounds.î
The group, which according to Woolsey eventually was responsible for the
development of the Macintosh II, experimented a lot with laserdiscs and
cd-roms for sound and text. ìWe all anticipated that if we worked hard
enough the technology would catch up with our vision.î
ìWe all anticipated that
if we worked hard enough
the technology would
catch up with our vision.î
While still part of the Education Research Group, Woolsey set up
alliances with Lucasfilm Ltd. and the National Geographic Society to
create an educational multimedia prototype that would ìcombine imagery
and computers to create a geography program ëhipí enough to engage the
imaginations of middle school students.î The prototype, produced
originally on a Apple IIe, would eventually become GTV: Geography
Television. She also began at this time to work with a few people at
Apple, including Rosendahl, to set up the human interface group.
It became clear that money and marketing expertise were essential if
these types of projects were to continue. Ambron, who had also recently
left Atari to come to Apple, took on the marketing challenge, trying to
convince executives in Cupertino, who didnít necessarily understand what
the term ìfluid mediaî meant, that it was important to fund research in
this field. It was a never-ending quest, according to Woolsey.
ìThe constant issue has been that we were never mainstream,î she says,
ìand most of the people who were supporting us never quite knew what we
were doing. To their credit they said, ëWell it looks good. Letís see
where its goes.í We had some incredibly important sponsors within Apple.
People who really thought it was important.î
After GTV, Ambron and Woolsey began to build a slew of multimedia
prototypes using early versions of WildCard, which later became
HyperCard. They hired a range of contractors including Florin, Gano and
Margo Nanny, who was a summer intern at the time. Together, the team
developed a series of prototypes that demonstrated the nascent concept of
multimedia. In the process they discovered that it was essential to be
able to drive external devices such as players for the optical media that
could store large amounts of picture and sound data; this painful
discovery led to development of the XCMDs built into the released version
of HyperCard.
For nearly a year, Woolsey worked with these contractors from their
homes; Ambron was still based in Cupertino. But it became too confusing
to run around to the different places, and so in December 1987, Apple
established the lab in San Francisco. Eventually, a few others became
full-time employees, including Gano, Florin and Nanny, but more than 100
people have collaborated on projects developed at the lab over the years.
Phase one: Show and tell tc "Phase one\: Show and tell"
The labís work then began in earnest, and from 1987 to 1990 its mission
was to explore opportunities for multimedia computing and to demonstrate
the findings within Apple Computer and to potential Mac developers. Its
charter was also to educate a community of designers on how to build new
media, so they in turn could bring it to the public. It was a time of
show and tell.
ìOur goal in early days was production and business development,î says
Woolsey. ìWe had constant connections with Apple technology efforts. The
good news there was that John Sculley really understood the concept of
fluid media, and that made a big difference. Johnís a trained architect
and so this stuff made sense to him. We kept him informed and gave all
sorts of speeches within Apple to show what was possible and tried to
drive the technology direction. But as far as the action here at the Lab,
it was pretty public what we were doing.î
The research projects developed during this time include the labís bestknown work, and in fact six of the prototypes completed during this
three-year period evolved into products:
ï
GTV: Geography Television, which began the whole thing in 1986,
developed into a product for the Apple IIGS in 1990 and into a version
for the Macintosh in 1991 (Lucasfilm and National Geographic).
ï
Voices of the Thirties, more commonly known as Grapevine, which was
created by Bob Campbell, a high school librarian, and Pat Hanlon, an
English teacher, to help their students better understand the Depression
and the 1930s, is expected to ship this month on cd-rom (Wings for
Learning).
ï
Interactive NOVA: Animal Pathfinders, based on a film for PBS,
which dealt with migration and concepts pertinent to a high school
biology curriculum, made its debut in 1987. It became a commercial
product for the Macintosh in 1990 (WGBH and Peace River Films).
ï
Life Story, also based on a tv production (this time for the BBC),
captured first place at the Film Festival in New York in 1990 as well as
first place and best of show in 1991 at the Cindy Awards, while still a
prototype. The Life Story design example uses a video drama as the
backbone structure to aid in understanding the complex scientific issues
surrounding the discovery of dna (Smithsonian Institution, Lucasfilm and
Adrian Malone Productions).
ï
Disappearing Ducks, which is based on a tv special on wetlands
created by the National Audubon Society, was actually scripted by a group
of students from the Marin Academy High School. Working with professional
designers from Lucasfilm, the students created an entire mystery around a
ìbefuddled character named Paul Parkranger, who left his cabin with an
unsolved case of vanishing wetlands on his desk.î The studentsí task was
to solve the case.
ï
Visual Almanac, perhaps the most famous of the labís projects,
consists of a videodisc with 7,000 images and sounds, a cd-rom with 25
megabytes of software, and a 200-page book titled the Companion. Designed
as a classroom aid so students could build reports that included text,
sounds, videos and stills in a ìpresentationî format, it broke ground on
a number of multimediaís most troublesome fronts, including interface
design, interaction and navigation, copyright acquisition, and database
development. The product was two years in the making; it was the labís
obsession and its nightmare.
Slipping on the bleeding edge tc "Slipping on the bleeding edge"
ìWe did prototypes just to show people what we were talking about,î says
Woolsey, ìbut then we took on the Visual Almanac in particular for the
production efforts. Truly no one, including ourselves, knew what we were
doing. The difference between doing those quick little prototypes and
looking clever and really creating a product isÝóÝwell, itís not easy.
ìWe were trying to build Visual Almanac at the same time we were trying
to find out what it takes to build a product and trying to research what
was possible in the medium,î adds Woolsey. ìIt was just crazy. No one
should ever do that again. Hopefully no one will ever have to.î
The discoveries and problems surrounding the production of the Visual
Almanac are too numerous to detail, but some of the highlights and low
points include the following: The interface for the Visual Almanac and
what finally became the three parts of the software were rebuilt several
times during production. The original Companion went in for a rewrite as
the original product began shipments, and a smaller text called Buddy was
whipped together so that some sort of printed guide could be shipped with
the first version. More than 100 people are credited with helping this
productís development. (There is a Visual Almanac Technical Report,
written by the key producers of the product that is more than 200 pages
as well as a 33-page report Woolsey scripted detailing the steps from
concept to product. Both are available from the lab.)
ìTruly no one,
including ourselves,
knew what we were doing.î
Even today, the product is still under revision. ìThe Almanac is so big,î
says Woolsey, ìthat itís not really a good product. Itís a great resource
and itís a good model for when everything is online. Itís that big.î In
an attempt to address this problem, a whole new line of Visual Almanac
products will be developed by The Voyager Company, which is scheduled to
produce a cd series this year.
During the 1987ñ1990 phase, the lab also developed the Multimedia
Production System in conjunction with Max Whitby of the BBC; the
prototype evolved into MacroMindís MediaMaker. In addition, it created
nine other prototypes, including one called Constitution, which
Scholastic turned into a product for the Amiga.
Phase II: The closed-door policy
"
tc "Phase II\: The closed-door policy
In 1990, with the shipping of the Visual Almanac, the lab changed. It
became part of Appleís Advanced Technology Group (where it has remained)
after three years of skipping from different divisions within Apple,
including K-12 Marketing, Special Opportunities and Business Learning.
The size of the staff was reduced, and the labís research became private.
The most significant event during this phase was the labís shift in
focus. It turned its direction from multimedia publications, or
commercial products, that are produced by a few for the many to what
Woolsey calls ìcasual media.î
Casual media, as the name implies, takes much less time and expertise to
create than publications. It includes two forms of
communicationÝóÝgraphical correspondence and conversationÝóÝover a
distributed network. The lab pursued research in four areas that are
essential to the concept of casual media, including acquisition, which
involves researching how to gather information; architecture, which asks
about uniform underlying structures; depiction, which deals with the new
human interface environment; and finally, connectivity, which examines
the new conversational environment.
ìI am not that interested in products right now,î Woolsey says. ìI am
more interested in every single person being able to make casual media
themselves. There is a very different sensibility when you can have
images and sounds that you use in communication. Images and sounds have
always belonged to the high priest. And those guys and women have given
them to us for their own purposes, and we have paid them for them.
ìWe are now advocating that we always have images and sounds and that
everyone can make their own. I donít want to tell you everything based on
the Bible; I want to write my own novel. Or else I want to write my own
letter. Itís the same issue. Reading and writing used to be a very small
class of people. That ability to write a quick note or letter to your
friend took a long time to evolve.î
In other words, the mission of the lab has been to extend the reading and
writing metaphor, to show what is possible when people communicate with
images and sounds using existing tools. The focus group for this phase of
research has been children. They are the perfect participants, because,
as Woolsey says, ìthey just do it.î They have none of the hangups we
acquire as we grow older about how well we draw, or tell a story, or how
quickly we learn something new.
It is interesting to note that portable devices and available networked
services are key elements to the success of casual media, and that Apple
is deeply involved in both of these technologies.
Enough research to drown in.ÝUnlike in the labís early years, there is no
flashy physical evidence to show off its most recent research. There are,
however, enough videotapes and technical reports for each of the 19
projects to drown in. For example, the labís last project, titled ìKids,
Cameras, and Computers,î has a videotape that shows how fifth graders
constructed 15ñ20-second video-based observation records of ìdiscoveriesî
made during a biology class. These videos were recorded directly into the
computer and shown instantaneously on screen. They were also distributed
over a network and shown during additional classes.
The premise behind the experiment is that as children focus on the
production phases and acquisition stages of creating a casual media
product, they focus more intently on the topic area, thereby increasing
their understanding of that topic. In addition, student conversations
about the topic then become very sophisticated.
The living lab.ÝFor the most part, the knowledge and understanding
garnered during this second phase of the labís existence lives only in
the heads of the people who experienced it.
It was Switzerland
in a war zone of competition,
where jobs for new media
were not and
still arenít plentiful.
ìThe closing of the lab is not implying that the work is done,î
emphasizes Woolsey, who will continue research into casual media,
dividing her time between the Exploratorium and the Ross School System in
Marin County. ìThe point was to launch people of all sorts into all sorts
of places, to create technology communities. Thatís what really worked.
Itís been a goal all along.
ìThe people that have worked in the lab, it seems to me, are
representative of what the information culture is going to be. More than
any single company right now, that has been our strength.î
Ultimately, then, the lab was not about technology and titles but about
talk. It was a place where people interested in new media ó both the
commercial and casual aspects of it ó could give and gather information
with their peers. It was Switzerland in a war zone of competition, where
jobs for new media were not and still arenít plentiful.
Where will that place be now with the closing of the lab? Today, there
are no answers to this question, no physical space under consideration.
But it is a serious concern for members of the West Coast design
community who used the lab as a think tank.
Woolsey is confident that these people will find their haven again. ìThe
thing that I think we have represented here at the lab is a place where a
lot of different kinds of people can have thoughtful inquiry,î she says.
ìWe donít have any religions. The lab was not the Apple culture. Itís was
Apple culture plus a lot of other cultures. And so it has lots of other
places to go.î
Janice MaloneyÝ
The Gryphon flies tc "The Gryphon flies"
Tandy and Microsoft team up again to tackle the home
The Tandy Corporation of Fort Worth, TX, announced at the end of August
the release of its long-rumored Gryphon product, an interactive, cd-rombased multimedia player designed for the home market. Tandy compiled the
suggestions from more than 65 computer, consumer electronics and software
vendors, including major input from Microsoft, during a two-year period
to develop the new Video Information System, or VIS.
VIS is a cd-rom player which, on first glance, is very similar to
Philipsí cd-i, or Commodoreís CDTV. But a quick look under the hood
reveals the significant differences in the strategies and technologies.
These differences may result in the ultimate success or failure of all of
these products.
NÈe Haiku. Microsoft developed the operating system for the VIS device
based on its immensely successful Windows software. Thus, VIS is able to
piggyback all of the work that has already gone into the windows-based
multimedia computer, mpcÝó authoring tools, system facilities and titles
development. (For more detailed information on Tandyís and Microsoftís
strategies, see Vol. 1, Nos. 11 and 10, respectively.)
Called Modular Windows, and formerly known by the code name Haiku, the
operating software is a scaled-down version of full Multimedia Windows,
the core of the mpc effort. Mpc titles that have already been written can
be ported to VIS in a matter of weeks, if not days. The major adaptation
required adding drivers for the VIS remote control, as opposed to a mouse
and keyboard, and certain interface alterations for television as opposed
to a computer monitor.
According to Mike Grubbs, senior director of marketing at Tandy,
Br¯derbund was able to create the VIS version of its well-received
Grandma and Me title from the mpc version in only a few weeks, and it
runs faster on VIS than it does on a pc. ICOM Simulations was able to
port its Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective game, complete with
compressed video, in only three days.
Not one, but five buses. VIS, which will retail at $699, looks like a
very simple cd audio player, with a smooth front panel, audio and video
input and output on the back, and an infrared remote control that is
remarkably similar to Nintendoís (see photo).
Tandy concentrated on creating a hardware architecture that was optimized
for a level of performance acceptable to the consumer, yet inexpensive
enough for that marketÝóÝwithout reinventing the wheel. It began with the
latest technology available from the computer industry, and combined it
with enhancements specifically designed for the consumer market.
The hardware, while similar enough to the íx86 family of personal
computers to work through the dos/Windows compatibility issue, is
configured in a manner that addresses the need to route media-rich data
quickly through the box and out to the display.
There is no single data bus (across which all data must pass in a normal
pc). Instead, there are five local buses with individual controller chips
designed specifically for this box by Tandy.
The audio capabilities have been boosted to make the quality as high as
any audio cd player. Animation and interactivity, i.e., button clicking
and the corresponding response, are processed very quickly. Tandy
representatives claim that the machine can handle input from the remote
control faster than any human thumb could possibly click. The VIS can
process vga, yuv or rgb (all digital video formats) inside the box, and
displays on any ntsc television; the conversion to nysc is quite clean.
There is a slot on the front of the box that will hold a ìSaveItî
cartridge, providing the capability to store personal information or to
save a location in a game or interactive cd-rom title. There are also two
additional ports in the back of the box that deserve mention. First,
there is a slot for a modem, which will be available with the first VIS
boxes, although there will not be any software available to take
advantage of it until later in 1993. It will cost about $60. In addition,
there is a port for a digital signal processor, or dsp, which has not yet
been priced.
The VIS box has video ìpass throughî built in. That is, there is an input
and output jack for a television cable. Looking to the time when an
incoming television signal has additional information accompanying it,
Tandy has included the technology to process that data. In addition to
incoming signals, the dsp could enable the player to play back fullmotion video from a cd-rom.
Tandy claims its built-in sales channels, including more than 5,000 Radio
Shack stores and the thousands of Tandy Name Brand retail chains, will
place VIS boxes within 10 minutes of 90 percent of the U.S. population.
Tandy will put VIS kiosks in the front of the store, and equip them with
demonstration discs that show off a wide range of titles to get consumers
ëhookedí on the technology.
A winning strategy. With almost universal agreement that interactive
multimedia appliances will sell only if the available software libraries
are rich and varied enough, Tandy and Microsoft may have developed a
winning strategy.
Compared to Philips, the two partners have effectively created a new
market, complete with the distribution, advertising and support of
Tandyís immense Radio Shack family, into which software developers can
push their products without having to build, from scratch, the same title
over again.
Tandy claims its
built-in sales channels will place VIS boxes within 10 minutes
of 90 percent of the U.S. population.
For its part, Philips has had to jump start an entire development
community, which required its own set of tools particular to the
platform. As a result, after being on the market for a full year, and in
development for six, there are still only 65 titles available. Tandy
announced that by the time the first VIS boxes reach the stores (in time
for the Christmas í92 selling season), more than 100 titles will be
available, many of them ported from the mpc.
Will all of this sound the death knell for Philipsí cd-i? Probably not,
but Philips is certainly on the run. While its latest software
demonstrations with full-motion video have been impressive, sales remain
slow. The suggested retail price for the units has dropped from $999 to
$699 (the same price as VIS players) and sales outlets carrying the
product have doubled to 2,000.
With the drop in the retail price, many people believe that third-party
manufacturers, like Sony and Matsushita, may not be able to realize
enough profit from selling the box to justify a major consumer sales and
marketing push in this country. Already these companies are hedging their
bets by redirecting the focus away from the consumer and toward
industrial and training markets.
Today, Zenith. Tomorrow, Kodak. VIS support will come from Zenith, which
plans to market the player under its own name. This brings into the fold
one of the last remaining U.S. consumer electronics television manufacturers, and a finalist in the hdtv transmission standards competition
being run by the FCC. Zenith is examining the VIS system as part of a
delivery mechanism for large-format television.
VIS is not yet licensed by Kodak for Photo CD, but that has more to do
with finalizing business relationships than finalizing technology.
According to Mike Alcorn, program manager of software products in Kodakís
CD Imaging Division, Kodak has two different licenses available for Photo
CDÝóÝone for consumer devices and one for computers.
In an area that blurs such distinctions, itís not surprising to hear that
there may be a slight disagreement over which license, if either, is
appropriate to the new Tandy family of products. Grubbs anticipates that
Tandyís new player will be Photo CD-compatible shortly.
Microsoft supports the new format, as do Zenith and 65 software
developers, so far. And Kodak will bestow its blessing soon. The folks at
Tandy studied their history well, and did not repeat the mistakes of its
predecessor, Philips and cd-i. But, all of the cross-industry support in
the world wonít add up to a hill of beans if the platform does not
capture the support of the consumer.
David Baron
AFI-Apple Center marks its first year tc "AFI-Apple Center marks its
first year"
Names veteran video designer Harry Marks creative director
When the American Film Institute-Apple Computer Center for Film and
Videomakers first opened its doors last May, few thought that it would
have such an impact. But because the level of change and upheaval in the
film and video world is as great as, or greaterthan what we have already
experienced in publishing, an organization dedicated to teaching the new
tools and new technologies to the entertainment industry, based in
Hollywood, and considered ìthe nationís trust for the art of the movie,î
would naturally be a big success.
Its high-profile position in the movie industry has also created a lot of
interest from outside southern California. In order to express
effectively its goal of marrying Silicon Valley to Hollywood, AFI signed
Harry Marks as its creative director. He will be creating demonstrations
and presentations about the center, as well as interactive products with
the digital tools.
Initial funding for the Center came in the form of a $1 million equipment
donation from Apple Computer, followed by hardware and software donations
from 93 companies valued at more than $950,000 in hardware alone,
according to Nick DeMartino, director of the Center.
Twice the spaceÝóÝand central air. The Computer Center has already
doubled the amount of space originally allocated by AFI in order to
handle not only the equipment, but also the number of classes that are
offered, many of them ìhands-on.î With all those processors churning all
day long, AFI has also had to allocate funding to install a central air
conditioning system.
This coming semester, the AFI-Apple Computer Center will offer more than
70 classes geared toward video and film industry professionals, including
special weekly ìsalonsî designed to keep pace with the alarmingly
dramatic advances in the digital media arena.
Classes are taught by experienced film directors, editors, musicians,
writers, animators and multimedia producers, as well as product and
company representatives. The AFI classroom is often the first place to
see new products or test new ìbetaî software and hardware.
ìPeople in Hollywood, who might not have any reason to think about
computers, all of a sudden felt the ground shake beneath them, and
realized that [QuickTime] was not just a cute way to make little movies
but the real integration of digital technology with movie making,î says
DeMartino. ìThe train has left the station, folks, and if you didnít get
a ticket youíre going to be in trouble.î
A mutually beneficial relationship. Philanthropy aside, the sponsoring
companies were able to reach a market that until recently has been
largely untouched by computer and multimedia technology. This quickly
became a mutually beneficial relationship.
The close relationship between the vendors and the AFI creative community
has already paid off for at least one company. Virtus Corporation
representatives showed a group of Hollywood set designers its flagship
Virtus WalkThrough product, which allows the user to create and then
navigate through a three-dimensional structure. The designers were so
enthralled, and had so many ideas about how to apply WalkThrough to their
business, that the Virtus folks incorporated their suggestions into a new
product designed specifically for theatrical set design. In addition, David Smith, founder and chairman of Virtus, will teach a class this
semester at the Center.
An eye to the future. Many of the Digital Media constituency have visited
AFI with an eye to the future of entertainment. Baby Bells, cable
companies, information providers and publishers have all come looking for
the answer to that elusive question: What is the new product that will
drive consumers to spend money on new technology? The Center needed
someone with a creative vision to demonstrate effectively not only the
new technologies, but the ramifications of the technology. The center
turned to Marks, a 26-year veteran of network television design, who has
created countless corporate logos and on-air promotion and identification
pieces.
Marksís charter is to create the ìpublic faceî for the Center. To this
end, he is designing self-running multimedia demos, including a massive
overview presentation of all of the software available and applicable to
the entertainment industry. Such a presentation could ultimately ìbe run
without me, could be run with everything they need to say without any
ëoops.íî He will also design publications, books and other multimedia
projects, with an eye toward creating products that may generate revenue
for the center.
He has already started on a multimedia adaptation of the AFI film
Hollywood Mavericks. Mavericks is a ninety-minute film about the maverick
film directorsÝóÝthose people who have bucked the system in order to
follow through on a creative vision. The bulk of the movie consists of interviews with these directors and clips from their classic movies. It
was produced by AFI in 1990, and hasnít had a lot of exposure; AFI
primarily releases its films at festivals and in competitions, but rarely
for broad theatrical release. (AFI produced another film, Visions of
Light, about the great cinematographers, which follows a similar format.)
Sitting next to the film on the shelves at AFI, however, are the 19ñ20
hours of interviews that were shot to make the movie. Marks would like to
see an interactive title that allows access to all of this footage,
perhaps packaged with the video tape of the original film. (For a
discussion of new packaging ideas, see sidebar, p. 17.) AFI, as a
nonprofit organization within the film industry, enjoys a ìmost favored
nationî relationship with most of the movie studios when it comes to the
issue of rights. It has negotiated, prior to the release, for the rights
to all of the clips in the aforementioned movies, as well as a recent HBO
special, also on directors.
ìI donít have to wait.î For Marks, Appleís QuickTime and Adobeís Premiere
editing software have provided the basic tools for completely changing
the way films are produced. People have been story boarding, or
previsualizing, movies on the Macintosh for a number of years, but as
QuickTime develops, allowing bigger video windows and better resolution,
more directors will be creating movies directly on their desktops. ìThe
bottom line is that for the first time, everything is under my control.
If I want to try an idea, I donít have to wait,î Marks said.
ìI do demos for people every day. I want the response to be ëWow!íî The
AFI-Apple Computer Centerís public face couldnít be in better hands.
David Baron
Consumer Apples roll in tc "Consumer Apples roll in"
Simplified Macs
take a bow on
the consumer stage
In late August, Apple Computer announced a line-up of three new Macintosh
home computers that will be sold through traditional consumer channels.
ìPerformas,î as the new machines are called, represent a significant step
for Apple, which until recently has shunned the low-end of the computing
market.
Almost two years ago, Apple decided that it was time to take aim at the
low-end of the market in an effort to gain market share. It significantly
lowered prices on its entire line of computers, and introduced two
products that were configured and priced for the low end: Macintosh
Classic and Macintosh LC. By all accounts, these products have been very
well received and have sold well.
But these existing products have only been sold through traditional
computer dealers, which for the most part do not attract significant
numbers of consumers. In fact, computer dealers over the years have
developed a notoriety that is second only to used-car dealers in service
and support.
Now that Apple is making Macintosh computers for consumers, itís taken
its expertise in creating user-friendly machines and interfaces and
developed packaged computers with customers in mind. Several changes have
been made that should help their appeal to the average consumer:
…
Each retailer will be required to bundle at least one and as many
as three applicationsÝóÝi.e., a general productivity tool such as Claris
Works. Additional software can be bundled with the systems at the
discretion of the retailer.
…
The machines will be priced aggressively at $1,200 to $2,500,
depending on machine and software included.
…
The system software has been enhanced with several new features
that make it even easier to use (and, more importantly, to share, since a
typical family computer will have several users). For example, the system
will be preloaded with an application launcher that automatically hides
the finder once in an application. (The capability for multitasking was
found to be more of a confusion than an aid to novice computer users.) At
Ease, a simplified finder interface program that allows the creation of
individual environments for several users, will be preloaded as well.
Both of these alterations can be reconfigured after the user has become
more fluent.
…
Each computer will come with one year of free service and support,
which includes a toll-free 800-line as well as in-home repair.
…
All software comes pre-installed on the computers. In fact, no
software disks are enclosed with the computer at all.
The three Macintosh ìPerformasî are specially designed versions of the
Macintosh Classic II (Performa 200), Macintosh LC II (Performa 400) and a
new machine, the Performa 600. Each machine has a 68030 microprocessor,
will be shipped with at least 4 mb of ram and an 80-mb hard disk. The
Performa 600 can be customized to include a built-in cd-rom drive. There
will also be two specially designed Performa color monitors as options
for the 400 and 600, each aggressively priced.
Apple feels that the primary market for these computers is parents of
school-age children and that the buyers will generally be new users or
first-time home computer buyers. This, however, is the same market that
computer manufacturers have been trying to tap for years. Why should
Apple succeed where so many others have failed?
According to Keith Fox, vp and general manager of consumer business for
Appleís Consumer Electronics Division, there are a number of market
factors that Apple will try to exploit.
First, Fox cited a heightened awareness of the educational crisis in the
U.S. As a result, parents are increasingly getting involved in their
childrenís education. One of the ways to effect this involvement is by
using some of the excellent educational software that is now reaching the
market.
Second, the recession has spurred a real cottage industry in home office
activity. People are increasingly setting up sideline businesses at home.
The home computing market is now at its highest level ever, with a 23
percent annual increase in market size. Contrast this with the market for
computers in business, which is running at an 8 percent annual increase.
Third, due in part to the ongoing U.S. recession, consumers want to stay
current with computer technology, which they see as integral to their
future both as a job skill and an educational tool. And finally, he cited
the now even-more-user-friendly Macintosh and Appleís commitment to
support the novice computer user.
A recent visit to the Macworld Boston show validated much of what Apple
is counting on: the low end of the market is really starting to burst. By
far, the biggest crowds were to be found around some of the neat
educational software and new cd-rom offerings. Some of the educational
software is so enticingÝóÝBr¯derbundís Where in the World Is Carmen
Sandiego? and Grandma and Me, to name twoÝóÝthat it fascinates child and
adult alike.
The down side to all this is that it will be a hard sell. Consumer
spending is at some of its lowest levels in years. People must have a
compelling reason to buy big-ticket items for the home. And at $1,200 to
$2,500, these are significant expenditures (when you are talking about
discretionary expenditures for the home, home computers must compete with
stereos, video equipment, refrigerators, furniture, remodeling, etc.).
The up side is that Apple has been very effective at delivering products
into specialized niches. It has sold a whopping 300,000 PowerBooks
(reportedly more than $1 billion is sales) since their introduction one
year ago. Sales of the Macintosh Classic and LC have been brisk, and test
marketing of the Classic and LC Performas at a few consumer retail
outlets has been successful.
Apple just may have the combination of quality product and marketing
savvy to really get this market off the ground. Stay tuned.
Greg Stern
Franklin offers DBSÝóÝbooks, not broadcasts tc "Franklin offers
DBSÝóÝbooks, not broadcasts"
Franklin Electronic Publishers, of Mt. Holly, NJ, recently announced the
introduction of the Digital Book System. At the heart of this new product
line is a five-ounce device, the size of an index card, which holds two
interchangeable rom cards, or ìbooks.î
Electronic books have received a lot of interest this year, especially after The Voyager Company began publishing its Expanded Books series for
the Apple PowerBooks, and again after Apple made its Newton Personal
Digital Assistant announcement. But Franklin has been publishing consumer
electronic books for more than six years.
The DBS-1 (an unfortunate set of initials for anyone in the direct
broadcast satellite business) marks a departure for the company as the
first multi-function device. With two slots for integrated circuit (ic)
rom cards, the DBS-1 can access and cross reference the databases from
both cards. Or, the user can keep an organizer in one slot and a book in
the other. It will be on the market by November 1, bundled with three
books, for less than $300.
The Digital Book System has a qwerty keyboard and an lcd display that is
40×160 pixels and can display five lines of text and simple graphics (see
photo). Each ic rom card has a capacity of 10 mb of data; Franklin has
been able to compress the entire Bible down to 1 mb. Franklin engineers
developed the ic rom card to meet the size and weight constraints of a
machine that fits inside a shirt pocket.
The company looked very seriously at many of the computer industrystandard tools and rejected them all in favor of hardware and software
that would be optimal for database retrieval, a small footprint and long
battery life. ìNo dos, no Intel Inside, no pcmcia (the industyís ic rom
standard). All those things are fine, I just donít think theyíre optimal
for where we want to be,î says Morton E. David, chairman and ceo of
Franklin. He anticipates that the DBS-1 will be able to operate for 100
hours on four lithium batteriesÝóÝabout 8ñ9 months of normal use.
The first titles available will be reference works, especially medical
resources like The Manual of Adverse Drug Interactions, or Stedmanís
Medical Dictionary, which will mark the first releases in Franklinís
medical professional library. But David expects the company to develop
both mass-market titles and custom databases. In the latter scenario,
Franklin would work with commercial, industrial and financial companies
to put their individual databases onto the ic rom cards. ìWhere else can
you, for less than $200, have a custom database machine for all your
brokers, salesmen or repairmen?î asks David.
Next year, the company will also release a docking station that will allow the Digital Book System to link to a fax machine, modem or pc
network. While it does not anticipate that the vast majority of its
customers are interested in such functionality, the machine is fully
capable. Even a cellular modem is in the works.
Franklinís bread and butter has been inexpensive, credit-card-size reference works, including spelling checkers, language translators,
crossword puzzle solvers, encyclopedias and the Big League Baseball
Encyclopedia. Its products sell for between $39 and $500, depending upon
the complexity of the device. Most of them are sold through channels such
as KMart. The top-price devices are specially designed with speech
synthesis, extra large display and raised keys for people with special
needs. The company has sold more than 5 million electronic books, and its
products are used in more than 9,000 schools. (Franklin and Simon &
Schuster Education Group recently entered into an agreement to bundle
electronic reference books with certain textbooks for primary school
distribution.)
With all the anticipation surrounding Appleís Newton products, Franklin
has very quietly developed a digital assistant that may be less
sophisticated, but that has many of the functions and features of Appleís
more expensive cousin. ìWe exist in the consumer marketplace.Ý.Ý.Ý.ÝThis
will be the product that people really want, not a product the computer
industry thinks people want,î says David.
This probably comes as sweet music to Franklin which, in its previous
incarnation, was a manufacturer of Apple IIg clones, until it was sued
and nearly bankrupted by Apple. It has since spent many years rebuilding
and re-inventing itself into a company with a profitable niche in
electronic publishing.
David Baron
Catching
the digital information wave tc "Catching
the digital information wave"
Donít let the low profile fool you. Paul Allen may not be a name capturing headlines often, but the Microsoft cofounder turned high-tech
venture capitalist has been very busy behind the scenes providing
financial backing to several companies with eyes turned toward the
digital information future.
The Allen-funded company count includes Asymetrix Corp., a multimedia
tools developer; and Interval Research, a less-than-one-year-old media
research and development firm in Palo Alto, CA, that is headed by Xerox
PARC veteran and Metaphor Systems cofounder David Liddle. Allen is also
one of the backers of SkyPix, the digital direct-broadcast satellite
(dbs) delivery system. While SkyPix is currently experiencing severe financial and managerial woes, which has all but doomed the company to
failure, Allen still holds a major stake in the compression and
communications technology the company has developed.
What they all have in common are tools and technology to access and
present informationÝóÝfrom computer-based presentations to moviesÝóÝin
digital form.
Now enter Starwave Inc., a startup company formed earlier this year with
a mission to develop and market ìproducts and services that have to do
with online information and digital data.î
ìOur general view of the world is that over the next five to 10 years,
all the information you want will be available online,î says Starwave
president Steve Wood (formerly the vice president of business development
for multimedia tools developer Asymetrix). But as many users have already
discovered, just because online services are available doesnít mean that
you can easily access or find the information you want.
ìOur general view
of the world is that over the next five to
10 years, all the information you want will be available online.î
To that end, Starwave is setting an agenda that includes developing
improved interfaces and better access software to existing online
information sources, such as news wires, government databases and
financial services. Says Wood: ìThe delivery mechanisms will be
thereÝóÝcables, satellites, cell networksÝóÝand thereís going to be some
huge opportunities to provide information in a form that people can use
and to help them filter that information.î
The company also hopes to be a major software supplier to the new crop of
emerging information publishers who lack the software expertise necessary
to organize, present and provide users with easy access software for
their information databases. ìOur premise is that there is going to be a
real explosion in the quantity of digital information,î says Wood. ìWe
plan to be there to take advantage of the new industry thatís going to
emerge to provide interesting and innovative ways to use all that digital
information.î
The company, which currently has eight employees, does not plan to make
any firm product announcements until it is ready to deliver, which wonít
be for several years, according to Wood. But with the backing of Paul
Allen, itís a company worth keeping an eye on.
Connie Guglielmo
Muzak for the video age tc "Muzak for the video age"
JCÝPenney,ÝCapÝCities/
ABC, GTE Spacenet to deliver voice, data, video network and programming
The JC Penney Company, GTE Spacenet Corp. and Capital Cities/ABC Inc. are
working out the details on a joint venture for a network for voice, data
and video communications in retail outlets. The venture, Advanced Retail
Communications (ARC), hopes to entice both large and small retailers with
digital satellite broadcasts and specialized broadcasting services
customized to retail locations.
The venture effectively exploits the expertise of the companies. JC
Penneyís retail operations already have an installed technology base for
data communications and transaction processing. GTE Spacenet, based in
Stamford, CT, is a unit of GTE Corp., which operates the nationís largest
independent telephone company and other satellite operations.
For more than three years, it has supplied JC Penney with one-way video
broadcasts and two-way audio communications to corporate offices and the
750 JC Penney stores currently equipped to receive the transmissions.
New York-based Capital Cities/ABC, the operator of ABC Television and
Radio networks, other radio and tv stations, and programmer for cable
stations ESPN, A&E and Lifetime, will furnish the operation with media
expertise and programming. Capital Cities plans to develop targeted
programs for ARC network customers, a service it has been providing for
JC Penneyís sports departments for the past six months.
ARC evolved from these working relationships. ìWe have an excess capacity
of existing network,î says Jean Davis, manager of media relations for GTE
Spacenet. ìWeíre looking to market this network to other users.î Davis
sees the potential for a huge market. ìWeíre able to provide a shared
network that will allow smaller retailers to take advantage of the kind
of network services that ordinarily only big retailers could afford, for
example, video.î
Aside from the significant base business guaranteed by JC Penneyís 1,400
retail outlets, ARC will target retailers and shop owners in 700 malls
nationwide. ìSeven hundred malls is a big mouthful already,î says Duncan
Muir, spokesperson for JC Penney. ìObviously there are others malls out
there with potential customers as well.î
The media venture will be advertiser-supported. However, Robert Aptr, vp
of finance and administration for ABC Sports at Capital Cities/ABC, says
it will not be like regular tv. Video programs, most often set to music,
will broadcast over tv sets strategically placed throughout a store or a
department.
Programs will draw upon video stocks from ABCís 30-plus years in
television as well as its expertise in targeting specific audiences, such
as women, sports fans, fashion and popular entertainment enthusiasts. ìAs
an equity partner, what we bring to the table with us is one of the
largest media companies in the U.S.,î says Aptr.
Capital Citiesí goal is to create nonintrusive, yet mood-setting
programming. ìWeíre not only in a listening, audio age. Itís a video
age,î says Aptr. ìThis is a second generation of Muzak that we feel has a
broader appeal to customers.î Although current plans do not include
interactive programs, Aptr says he envisions future interactive projects,
such as contests and sweepstakes.
While the participants are mum on projected revenue and investment
details, representatives for the venture say network prices will be low
in order to lure both large and small companies. ìWeíre sure that it will
be very cost-competitive to what they have now,î says Davis.
Although the project is scheduled to see the light of day in the first
quarter of 1993, much work remains to be done. ìThis is still in
embryonic stages,î says Aptr. ìWe have yet to settle many details.î
Anyone who is bothered by Muzak is certain to find the prospect of ìVideo
Muzakî more than a little alarming.
Amy Johns
Media Bundles Challenge The Channel tc "Media Bundles Challenge The
Channel"
Harry Marks, the new creative director at the American Film InstituteApple Computer Center for Film and Videomakers, envisions the release of
the video of The Mavericks of Film accompanied by an interactive cd-rom
containing interview footage that didnít make it into the 90-minute
video.
Undoubtedly, much of that footage is valuable and unique information, yet
the 20 hoursí worth of ìleftoverî footage would be completely unwatchable
in linear form. But what if the interactive disc were packaged with the
movie? It certainly wouldnít cost that much to produce, and it would add
significantly to the value of the film. With the proper interface and
search and retrieval capabilities, it would allow anyone who watched the
movie to explore in much greater depth the directors and the films
profiled.
Rick Smolan, the photographer known for the series of coffee-table books,
A Day in the Life, is preparing his latest book, From Alice to the Ocean:
Alone Across the Outback, which will include a Photo CD disc containing
vocal narration, music and hundreds of additional photographs (see Vol.
2, No. 3, p. 28, for coverage of his Digital World presentation).
Packaging cds with other media is not necessarily a new idea, but it is
one that has had trouble finding its place in the retail and distribution
channels. What is itÝóÝa book or software? Who should sell itÝóÝEgghead,
Tower Records or B. Dalton?
The fine-art book publisher Callaway Editions has created a new division,
BoundSound, which includes audio cds with its books. Its newest title is
by Madonna, a collection of photographs and writings titled, simply, Sex,
which will have an audio cd of Madonnaís music bound in. Callaway is also
working on other projects, including a profile of guitar maker Danny
Ferrington, accompanied by the music of people who play his guitars; and
a book about Malcolm X, which will include a disc of his speeches. The
release of the latter will be timed to the opening of Spike Leeís
forthcoming movie later this fall.
While the BoundSound products contain audio cds only, itís not a stretch
to imagine interactive discs bound in with other media. Nicholas
Callaway, president of Callaway Editions, sees tremendous potential for
packaging traditional print books with cd disc formats varying from cd
audio to cd-rom, depending on book content. ìWe are starting with [cd]
audio because it has the largest installed user base, but we see this as
one form of multimedia. Interactivity will be available for the
appropriate publication.î Callaway said that several of the companyís
titles may soon have interactive discs bound with the books, including
the Malcolm X book.
Distribution channels are an often ignored piece of the digital media
pie, but it remains a critical issue to resolve as computer and mass
media merge. Titles like these are further eroding, or at least
confusing, the traditional distribution channels for all forms of media.
Record stores are selling and renting videos as well as books on tape;
book stores are selling computer software; and no one knows who will sell
interactive products. Blockbuster Video began renting cd-i players and
titles to its video customers earlier this year and is the first
dedicated rental channel for both the Philips hardware and software.
(Philips purchased approximately 10 percent of Blockbuster earlier this
year, with this distribution idea in mind. See Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 17.)
ìRetailers are falling behind the convergence [of different media types],
and they will have to keep up with the consumer,î says Callaway. ìPeople
wonít go to separate stores for their media. They want to go to one place
for all their software.î
Tandy has responded by opening up its own brand of superstore, The
Incredible Universe, which will include consumer electronics devices,
home/office computer equipment, an entire new section for multimedia
devices and ìthe equivalent of the largest Tower Records in the world,î
according to Mike Grubbs, senior director of marketing for Tandy Corp.
Here, under one roof, a shopper could find any desired mix of hardware
and software. Of course, The Incredible Universe will carry the new Tandy
Video Information System and all of its software as well (see story,
p.Ý14).
While many people are worried about the copyright and business issues
surrounding such packages (record, book and movie companies all operate
under different legal and business structures), Marks believes that there
is plenty of material sitting on shelves waiting for such an opportunity.
ìI am amazed that people in that kind of position [like Madonna] do not
know what is available. Madonna owns her music and videos and herself.
One could take her archives and make incredible interactive products.
Maybe she is doing that, sheís smart enough.î By then, in addition to her
own multimedia production company, sheíll probably have her own
distribution channel as well!
David Baron
British Telecom into global networking tc "British Telecom into global
networking"
London-based British Telecommunications plc landed center stage last
month with a report that the company had big plans for a global network
for the transmission of voice, data and video to multinational
corporations.
According to The Wall Street Journal, development of the project is already under way with four multi-million dollar hubs to be installed in
London, New York, Frankfurt and Sydney by the end of 1993. The article
details a plan for an installation of 32 hubs and 20 switching centers to
be completed by 2002.
The national business daily based its information on four internal BT
documents acquired by the paper from persons close to the company.
This global network would allow British Telecom to install and operate a
communications network for large international corporations. These
networks will facilitate internal communications, such as dialing a
colleagueís extension, even when that colleague is overseas.
In addition, it will be able to provide video teleconferencing and highspeed data lines. Transmissions would reportedly be 5ñ15 percent cheaper
than current international-switched telephone calls.
Many companies find it more convenient, as well as less expensive, to
have their communications systems operated by external companies. In the
U.S., many large corporations maintain leased lines between major
centers, allowing for simplified switching of calls and data between
offices spread across the continent. BTís plan would create similar
services on a global scale.
BT is neither confirming nor denying the reported operation. ìWeíre not
talking about that right now,î said David Callisch, a spokesperson in
BTís San Jose, CA, office. ìAs a matter of fact, weíre looking into the
source of the leak.î
Although companies such as AT&T, Sprint, MCI and other international
telecommunication companies have been working on similar global networks,
the reported BT plan is the most ambitious project to date.
The road to becoming a ubiquitous international network supplier will
probably not be a smooth one, however. BT, or any other company setting
its sights on such an international market, must first win over national
regulatory bodies. In Europe, the European Community has brought down
many of the borders that once separated European markets. Still, one has
to wonder if the European governments that maintain close ties to their
national telecommunications companies would allow a foreign company to
take such a potentially sizable chunk of their telecommunications market.
U.S. hurdles are no less daunting. The current deregulatory mood of the
FCC does not guarantee an easy passage into U.S. markets by a foreign
telecommunications giant.
Interactive comic books from Dark Vision Interactive tc "Interactive
comic books from Dark Vision Interactive"
Multimedia producer Total Vision, of Santa Monica, CA, and comic book
publisher Dark Horse Comics, of Milwaukie, OR, are joining forces to
develop interactive multimedia titles based on theatrical motion pictures
and their corresponding comic book characters.
Dark Horse Comics, which is the third largest comic book publisher in the
U.S., has created an extremely successful comic book series based on the
Alien movies as well as the Schwarzenegger hit, Predator. The company has
a strong relationship with a number of film companies that have granted
the comic book rights, including interactive comics, to the Indiana Jones
movies and Terminator. Dark Horse also boasts its own film production
company, Dark Horse Entertainment, so it should not be at a loss for
characters and stories to bring to the new company.
The new venture, called Dark Vision Interactive, will develop 10 titles
during the next two years. The first, based on Alien, will be released in
the summer of 1993, and will cost between $50 and $75. Also in the works
are Predator and Concrete, which is not an action/adventure title, but is
based on a comic book series with broad-based appeal. Each title is
expected to cost between $500,000 and $1 million.
The theatrical film of Concrete, currently in preproduction, is being
produced by Largo Entertainment and Dark Horse Entertainment. The
interactive title will combine animation with video footage from the
movie.
The goal of Dark Vision is to create interactive titles that are based in
cinematic techniques, not games. While there will certainly be game
elements in the titles, the focus will be on characters and storylines.
Each title will have multiple story lines that are determined by the
user. In Alien, for example, the user would be able to follow either of
two main characters. However, the actions that you direct with one
character may affect what happens to the other. The user would be able to
switch between characters during the session.
According to Michael Howse, managing director of Total Vision,
interactive multimedia today suffers from a lack of ìproducts with real
story lines. Good stories drive an awful lot of people to the movies and
it will drive people to interactive software as well.î
The interactive comics, with 3d graphics and high-quality digital audio,
will initially be available for cd-i as well as Macintosh and mpc cdroms. According to Howse, the company is experimenting with the
cd-based game formats from Sega and Nintendo, but arenít yet sure it
those devices can handle the high-quality graphics that are integral to
the programs.
ìTechnically we can do a lot of things. We have to work out the creative
issues,î says Howse. ìThatís what weíre doing.î
One big, happy family tc "One big, happy family"
In a flurry of purchases and stock swaps during a two-month period, Gain
Technology purchased Santa Fe Interactive, after which Gain was purchased
by database vendor, Sybase. The three companies have pooled their
resources in order to offer a family of tools for the creation of, and
access to, huge multimedia databases.
Santa Fe Interactive, which will now be called Gain Interactive, creates
interactive business systems for corporate customers like American
Express and Dow Chemical. Santa Fe is a custom developer, creating
applications with whichever tools might be appropriate for the task, be
it prototyping, training or design.
Gain Technology is the developer of the high-end GainMomentum objectoriented multimedia system software. Its products enable the creation of
large-scale corporate applications, such as the interface for massive
databases running on Sun Sparcstations and, soon, other Unix
workstations. The companyís specialty has been the capability to easily
incorporate rich media types in these applications. GainMomentum, for
example, is being used by Matsushita for the development of interactive
high-definition programming. (For more information on the Gain/Matsushita
agreement, see Vol. 1, No. 7, p. 17.)
Sybase is the maker of one of the most popular relational database
management systems. As is normally the case with such systems, Sybase has
focused its energies on enabling customers to create fast, system-wide
databases, but has focused little on the end-user. Sybase users have
commented that the interface tools that accompany the Sybase system are
not very good.
The front end, or user interface for such databases, is usually created
with a third partyís design and interface tools.
One issue facing multimedia producers is how to distribute libraries of
digital information to end users. Since the amount of data is so high, it
would clog most pc-based systems. An integrated authoring system, built
around a high-powered Unix workstation, could make such development
easier.
Applications already under development include workstations for
government intelligence operations, which would put at the researcherís
fingertips the full databases, real-time data feeds (from satellites, for
example) as well as live video from war scenes and CNN. Such applications
are also being developed for the financial services industry.
(Not) An IBM PDA tc "(Not) An IBM PDA"
IBM will demonstrate ìmobile computing technologiesî for use in laptop
and notebook computers and personal digital assistants, or pdas, at
Comdex in November.
ìIBM will not be showing a device, weíll be showing mobile computing
solutions,î Tara Sexton, spokesperson for IBMís Personal Systems
Division, said. ìPdas are a nascent market right now. It [the companyís
Comdex presentation] will be a technology demonstration of mobile
computing, including laptops, notebooks and pdas. But itís not just pdas.
Weíre looking at it from a much broader angle than that. Itís about
mobile computing technologies.î
IBM representatives, while not very comfortable talking about what is
still in development, made it very clear that these are not consumer
technologies, but mainline business tools, which is consistent with IBMís
perspective on most computer applications. Its multimedia efforts are
also directed toward business solutions, not consumer players.
Apple has recently begun to redirect its efforts at marketing the Newton
pda technology to business circles as well. While it was introduced at
the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Apple chairman John Sculleyís latest
comments portrayed the Newton as the mobile end of a business computer
network, and felt that the CES introduction served to misplace the
primary function of the device. IBM seems determined not to make that
mistake.
1992 National Communications Forum
Oct. 12ñ14, Chicago
National Engineering Consortium
(312) 938-3500, fax (312) 938-8787
The National Communications Forum is an annual educational conference for
telecommunications and computer professionals. While this event may be
one of the largest gatherings of the telecommunication industry, the
computing and cable industries, public interest groups, government
offices, U.S. universities and others will be represented as well.
A new format has been created this year with so many seminars and tracks
packed in that finding an area of interest shouldnít be a problem. Each
day will feature 12 or more concurrent tracks, consisting of three
seminars covering various aspects of the track topic. Topics for the 125
seminars range from personal communications, information services,
intelligent networks and lightwave technologies to customer demand,
strategic management and regulatory and marketing issues.
Attendance for the event is projected at 2,500ñ3,000. As this event is
intended to be educational, audience participation is encouraged during
seminars. Also, several events have been scheduled for interaction and
networking among attendees.
In place of an exhibition center, NCF í92 will feature a Technology
Previews area for noncommercial presentations of new technologies. A few
companies might pop up with new products, but the majority of the 25
corporations and labs will give ìhands-onî demonstrations of new
technologies, such as virtual reality, multimedia and speech recognition,
applied to futuristic telecommunication and computer systems.
As a part of the program, U.S. companies Andrew Corp., Ameritech, AT&T
Bell Labs, Motorola and Tellabs are inviting international
telecommunication companies to tour its facilities.
Lastly, if you missed Juneís TechNeeds 2000 conference, video highlights
will be shown in a theater.
The National Engineering Consortium is a nonprofit organization with 48
years of experience in sponsoring numerous annual forums for continuing
education in the telecommunication and computer industries.
Amy Johns
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