Position paper for Webcasting

Chinnapong Somsueb

ID# 1671071

March 12, 2007

Position paper for Webcasting

Webcasting is the "transmission of linear audio or video content over the Internet." (1) The streaming technology is used to share content with many simultaneous listeners and viewers. Therefore, the majority type of content for webcast would be a television-related show. In addition, webcast would be useful in the education industry as well because of distance learning or video on-demand which students can watch and learn at their convenience. There are several the benefits of webcasts such as convenience, accessibility, and using Internet technology.

Due to the use of Internet technology, webcasts can be a convenient way to receive content. Unlike either television or radio which, is on pre-programmed times, we can access to obtain webcast contents at our convenient. For example, people can go to broadcasters’ websites and watch their favorite programs on their free time either at home or school.

In addition to convenience, we can also access webcast contents either by only voice or multimedia such as radio, TV, and any presentation almost everywhere that has computer and internet connection. According to Internet World Stats, as of January 2007, approximately 1,094 million people worldwide use the Internet (1). Therefore, those people could be able to access any webcast contents. This is a huge number of people compared with other types of media. Moreover, the number of people who can access the network is increasing significantly.

Similar to the current TV and radio technology, Internet and multicast technology are also used in webcasting. Therefore, many users can access the same content at the same time. Furthermore, webcasts can be accessed by using this Internet technology from wherever there is a computer with an internet connection. This could spread not only the entertainment materials, but also the education-related content. The education materials will become easier to access. Moreover, this multicast still has an opportunity to be improved and developed in order to be more optimized and delivered a bigger size of multimedia contents.

In conclusion, consumers, students, and broadcasters would be able to gain several advantages from webcasting technology, such as convenience and accessibility. The most significant issue about distributing multimedia throughout the internet is that the speed of the network has to be fast enough in order to receive it smoothly. Additionally, this type of broadcasting depends on computers and the Internet. The Internet is the only channel on which people who have internet can watch and receive contents if they want a webcast. On the other hand, since 1995, the growth of webcasting traffic has roughly doubled year after year. As a result, there are many opportunities for webcasting to grow and to be used widely.

Reference:

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webcast