Re: Netphone conference
Jim Terral (jterral@netidea.com)
Mon, 16 Jun 1997 06:52:50 -0700
Andrew Garton wrote:
>
> At 06:34 15/06/97 -0700, you wrote:
> >Monika Wunderer wrote:
> >
> >> good idea!! will contact them right away (aham, what do you mean with the
> >> hotdog communication suite?), yes, I am late with this, but the problem is
> >> , that we are still not sure if we can use their software?
> >
> >:-) You can use their software. That's what the evaluation copies are
> >about. Just don't try to sell it to anyone.
>
> Greetings!
>
> A few shillings worth from down under :)
>
> I am wondering why we aren't talking about RealAudio? Sure, NetPhones have
> their place when it comes to organising across vast distances, but they're
> not stable enough, nor is Powwow for the kind of project Oudeis is panning
> out to be.
>
> Jim points out the basic problems with different platforms which are issues
> I've faced with my online opera, Auslaender und Staatenlose. We chose a
> common plaform that is not resource hungry, that works quite well and
> supports a decent compression ratio ensuring reasonable quality. The only
> problem we face with RealAudio, is server access. But, we now have a RA
> server as sponoser which all our sites (Moscow, London, Prague, Melbourne)
> will use. Ars Electronica will provide us with RA server access too,
> eventually enabling all the European sites to run off one RA server in Linz.
>
> NetPhones and the like, from my experience, are more prone to inconsistent
> performance. At least with RA, drop outs are buffered. You also have the
> added advantage of "recording" your performance leaving RA files to be
> retrieved at a later stage. The performance becomes archived and available
> at all times.
>
> There are bandwidth issues to deal with as well when it comes to RA, but if
> Prodigy, the Orb, Bowie and many others are happy to use RA in RealTime I
> can't see why Oudeis shouldn't at least consider it as a serious option.
I agree with Andrew. RealAudio would allow us to set up mirror sites so
that people outside of the main city network (Vienna, LA, Rio,
Melbourne, etc) can exprience something of value. Mirrors could be
anywhere. We could house one for a few months on my ISP and show it in
the local RL theater on a big screen. People would come. People would
pay money, and that raises issues that would have to be resolved.
Mirror sites can be up for a much longer period--say a month or two.
Attending an event online takes more time. You don't just buy your
ticket and sit down and watch the show. You have to fiddle with yr
equipment. You have to type things in. Maybe you have a slow connection
at the moment, and so on. The great boon of the Internet in many cases
is in the asynchronous area. People can go to the theater when they want
to.
Internet Phone may be most useful as a control mechanism for people at
different sites involved in the real time production.
I think it would be a good idea to have a "backstage" period online,
real time after the performance is over; maybe overlapping somewhat with
that period or maybe an online "brunch" with the performers the next
day. Feedback from the audience is especially important in a new medium
like this.
--
Jim Terral
South Slocan, BC