Web Media Update
I’ve prided myself for a long time on being a liaison for technology and people who aren’t technologists or those who at the very least tolerate it. However I still would like to contribute to the web development community regardless of whether they are developing e-Learning or educational software interfaces or not. With that said, I would like to emphasize that my first degree was in software engineering, so I am an engineer at heart. Therefore I will proceed to get a little tech-y…
Adobe announced early last week that they are extending new capabilities into their acquired Flash technology:
Adobe Extends Web Video Leadership with H.264 Support
Basically what this means is that traditionally fat-client-like video technology is coming to the desktop via a primarily thin-client channel. For a discussion or definition of fat vs. thin video client technology, please see my article on CTLPedia
Adobe’s official Labs page describes it here: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer9/
A very thorough techie discussion about what this does in terms of this upcoming video technology available to users of the web is posted here: http://www.kaourantin.net/2007/08/what-just-happened-to-video-on-web_20.html
My takes, and its implications on what will happen to online education?
- In terms of a video technology that will give us a great out of the box experience and just work, if it catches on and doesn’t succumb to the competition by not restricting it to a proprietary platform, it has the potential to be a ubiquitous media platform for the web. If this is the case, learners will become unaware of the technology and just use it without worrying about configuring their computer.
- Educational media producers could potentially target both HD television displays AND the web at the same time using similar production workflows. Especially with the advent of services like YouTube and AppleTV becoming integrated.