Why 2001 will be the Year of Streaming Media
Article @ ZDNet...
Why 2001 will be the Year of Streaming Media
By 133, AnchorDesk
May 31, 2000 9:00 PM PT
URL:
zdnet.com
This is it. We're headed into streaming media's big growth spurt, and it's one you won't be able to ignore.
For the unfamiliar, streaming media is the technology that lets you get live audio and video delivered to you over the Internet. Streaming media's failings to date have been many: jerky video motion, tiny screens and robotic sounding voices. That's changing. I'll tell you why below, but first,
let's check out the landscape now.
HOW HOT IS IT?
-- The streaming media services market will grow twentyfold to $2.5 billion by 2004, according to the Internet Research Group.
-- There are 2,500 Internet radio stations.
-- The number of people surfing the Web while watching TV grew from about 8 million in 1998 to 27 million last year, according to Dataquest.
-- Intel is spending $200 million to build a global network to stream audio and video over the Internet.
-- Excite@Home just crafted deals with Akamai Technologies, iBeam Broadcasting and Microcast to speed the downloading of streaming media by caching data at servers in two of Excite@Home's hosting centers.
Even more interesting, the people at Dataquest point out, is the diversity of the streaming media offerings. Small companies are supplying niche audiences that media moguls have been happy to ignore. Take, for example, the Homeland Networks, which aims at the ethnic Indian community.
FOUR INGREDIENTS FOR STREAMING MEDIA
Four converging trends will move streaming media into its growth phase beginning next year:
More bandwidth. Faster Internet connections are on the way. Some 4 million households will have DSL next year, and nearly 49 million U.S. households will have broadband by 2004, according to a study by Cahners In-Stat Group. Click for more.
Better infrastructure. Companies now offer serving and caching services that improve streaming performance. Think of Akamai, Edgix, cidera, E-Media and others. Click for more.
Better streaming technology. RealNetworks' Real Player 8, just released in beta, does a fantastic job of fitting a lot of information through narrow pipes. Click for more.
Appropriate content. Content suppliers are creating products designed for the limitations of today's products. Look at AtomFilms, which won an Oscar for one of its short films, and others adapting the big screen to the little monitor. Click for more. Even better is the use of animation and
comics, which use less bandwidth. Likewise, training companies are learning intelligent ways to stream audio and video to help students without bogging them down.
Streaming media gets better every month, and as soon as next year it will join research and email as favorite online apps. Think I'm overstating it? Hit the Talk Back button and tell me how.
Or visit the Berst Alerts forum and hash it out. |
