The advantages and disadvantages of multimedia

There are a couple of advantages and disadvantages to using multimedia in communication. I’m only going to a list a few important ones below. If you are interested to know more, visit one of the given websites by just following the links.

Advantages:

• It is very user-friendly. It doesn’t take much energy out of the user, in the sense that you can sit and watch the presentation, you can read the text and hear the audio.
• It is multi sensorial. It uses a lot of the user’s senses while making use of multimedia, for example hearing, seeing and talking.
• It is integrated and interactive. All the different mediums are integrated through the digitisation process. Interactivity is heightened by the possibility of easy feedback.
• It is flexible.Being digital, this media can easily be changed to fit different situations and audiences.
• It can be used for a wide variety of audiences, ranging from one person to a whole group.

Disadvantages:

• Information overload. Because it is so easy to use, it can contain too much information at once.
• It takes time to compile. Even though it is flexible, it takes time to put the original draft together.
• It can be expensive. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, multimedia makes use of a wide range of resources, which can cost you a large amount of money.
• Too much makes it unpractical. Large files like video and audio has an effect of the time it takes for your presentation to load. Adding too much can mean that you have to use a larger computer to store the files.
• In case you want to upload it onto the Internet, there are a few factors to keep in mind, for example bandwidth and the user’s abilities.

Here are a few websites with more information:

• OP Papers
• Wiki Answers
• Yahoo Answers

The usage of mutlimedia in a communication environment.

There are five main things that it is important when you use multimedia:

• It is important to keep in mind what the goal of the communication is. It can be to exchange information, for example when a company wants to communicate their new corporate identity to their stakeholders and clients. It can also be for educational purposes, for example when a teacher uses PowerPoint-presentations and video clips to explain certain concepts to the students. It can also be for entertainment. Just look at You Tube and other website for examples.

• Secondly, you have to know what type of media you are going to use. Examples of possible media are text, hypertext, video, images/photo’s, audio etc. It is important to remember that multimedia means the integration of these types of media, so you have to use more than one.

• Thirdly, you have to decide how it is going to be used. Using these presentations online, means uploading it to a website on the Internet. When it is used offline, it is most commonly stored on a CD and in the right format so that it is compatible with a lot of hardware and programs/applications.

• You also have to keep in mind which applications you are going to use when you plan these presentations, and when you put them together. There are a wide variety of applications available which you can use, for example PowerPoint and Flash, just to name two.

• Always keep track of the resources to have available. These include your designers, the computers, the applications, your available time etc. The available finances are also an important recourse.

All of the above will have an effect on how your presentation will look in the end. Plan thoroughly and always keep in mind what you want your end-product to look like. And use what you have the best way you possibly can.

What is Mutlimedia?

All of us know that there are a wide variety of definitions available for the word ‘multimedia’ on the Internet, in books and other media. Multimedia is the integration of more than one type of medium to convey a message. This includes the usage of photo’s, text, audio, video etc.

Listed below are a few definitions for ‘multimedia’ that I found on the Internet:

• Generic description of the generation and transfer of voice/data/video traffic between users. (netted automation)

• A combination of multiple media types, including text, graphics, animation, audio and video. (actewagl)

• The use of several media, such as movies, slides, music, and lighting in combination normally for the purpose of education or entertainment. (publicspeakingcourse)

• Writing and film making encompassing more than one medium at a time which, script-wise, usually refers to CD-ROM games or Internet-based programming. (screenwriting)

• Computer-controlled presentations combining three or more of the following elements: text, graphics, animation, full-motion images, still video images, and sound. (serc.iisc)

• The combination of audio, video, animation, and graphics. Multimedia software presents information in all these contexts. Multimedia computers are required to run these types of programs. (mywalpole)

• Systems that support the interactive use of text, audio, still images, video, and graphics. Each of these elements must be converted in some way from analog form to digital form before they can be used in a computer application. (wou)

• Multimedia is the integration of multiple forms of media. This includes text, graphics, audio, video, etc. For example, a presentation involving audio and video clips would be considered a "multimedia presentation. (ms state)

• This originally indicated a capability to work with and integrate various types of things including audio, still graphics, and especially video. Now it is more of a marketing term and has little real meaning. (vcsolutions)

• the use of a computer to display integrated text, graphics, animation and sound. As computers become more sophisticated and less expensive, the potential for use in multimedia presentations such as movies and interactive education increases. (computer service)

• transmission that combine media of communication (text and graphics and sound etc.) (word net)

• Multimedia (Lat. Multum + Medium) is media that utilizes a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun (a medium with multiple content forms) or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. (wikipedia)
  

It is thus clear that ‘multimedia’ can be seen as:

• It is computer-controlled
  Multimedia is controlled through a digital process on the computer.

• It is the integration of more than one medium.
  As mentioned above in almost every definition, multimedia is the usage of mediums such as text, photo’s, video and audio.

• It wants to inform.
  It wants to communicate with the user, whether to entertain, educate or advertise.

• It is interactive.
  The user should be able to interact with the multimedia presentation. It has to be user friendly as well.
  
  

Multimedia is more than what I have just mentioned above though. It can take on a lot of different forms, and can be used in a wide range of ways. It all depends on the function it is used for.