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Technology Stocks : Macromedia...making a comeback? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Altaf Amin Jadavji who wrote (2164)	4/18/1998 12:16:00 PM
From: av ram	Respond to of 2675

Can't remember but you do search on full text basis for MACR, you should find it. I will try to dig out more. thanks

To: Altaf Amin Jadavji who wrote (2164)	4/18/1998 5:09:00 PM
From: Charlie J	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2675

The 'Microsoft alliance' probably just refers to MACR's recent announcement about publishing the file format for Flash and trying to make it a standard. This is a positive thing, but not major financial news. <<I really see a future here once bandwidth becomes readily available>> Actually, Flash solves bandwidth problems right now. But the problem that Flash has is that graphics and animations created with the Flash editor require a plug-in to be viewed on web pages. There is resistance to plug-ins on the web, and content creators cannot assume that everyone will have a specific plug-in. They have to create to the lowest denominator, which does not include plug-ins, generally. That's what this announcement is about. Microsoft seems to be indicating, if I understand this correctly, that they will build into Explorer the capability to view graphics in this new file format which Flash generates. Thus, anyone with such a version of Explorer will be able to automatically see Flash-created graphics without needing to have downloaded and installed a plug-in. And then, everyone creating web sites can freely use Flash, and MACR sells more Flash. The only thing missing is, what about Netscape and its browser? Netscape is such a screwed up company that it will probably completely miss this, and it will just be one more nail in its coffin, at least in the browser market.

To: Altaf Amin Jadavji who wrote (2164)	4/19/1998 1:03:00 AM
From: av ram	Respond to of 2675

Altaf, that article was discussed in Realnetwork thread..here is the link: exchange2000.com thanks

To: Altaf Amin Jadavji who wrote (2164)	4/20/1998 5:38:00 PM
From: Mike Davidson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2675

The Microsoft alliance part is definitely true. Not only did MACR mention MSFT in their press release, but MSFT owns about 10% of RealNetworks (who currently develops RealFlash with MACR). Your comment that you "really see a future here once bandwidth increases" makes sense, however, there is no need to wait that long. The beauty of Flash technology is that is doesn't require much bandwidth at all. You can create a MINUTE long animation sequence in Flash which is less than 10k in size. Yes, I said 10k. The reason some of the Flash animations around the web are larger is because they use sound (sound takes up WAY WAY WAY more space than vector graphics). Now, back to your comment. When bandwidth becomes more readily available, that is when bandwidth-dependant companies like RealNetwork will hit their stride. What does that mean for Macromedia? Well, if RealFlash becomes a hit, it means a virtual lock on the delivery of high-quality web content. Here's the scenario which I would like to see occur: Macromedia and Real get together to develop a browser of their own which is compact in size and optimized to view/hear Flash and RealAudio. Along with that, it can also process standard HTML and Java so it can be used to view all of today's standard sites. It would have to be advertised on TV to generate maximum excitement. I believe that with all of the negative opinions surrounding today's browsers, it would be entirely possible to get people to switch over. Then, once enough people get hip to the browser, the sky's the limit for MACR and Real. You might be saying to yourself, "why would MSFT want to participate in anything which would circumvent their browser?" Well, for one, it would be a great way to quiet all the criticism they've been getting from the Justice Dept and from the general public. Remember, they own some of Real so they'd still benefit directly too. Just some thoughts.