Report Macworld Expo SF '00 Day 3

 

Hands-On Report: Macworld Expo San Francisco 2000 -- Day 3

By Roderick Martin
January 7, 2000

Today's conference opened with a Town Meeting at 9 a.m. Several Mac personalities were there to discuss Steve's keynote yesterday and allowed the audience to give their feelings, rants, opinions and questions on what was announced.

Overall, the group in attendance was very positive on the keynote. Nearly everyone was excited about the new Mac OS X look, but there was some dissent on the value of the new apple.com iTools.

Some concern was raised that Apple is now taking a Microsoft approach to the Internet in that Apple's own technology is being used to enhance the web experience while excluding anyone non-Mac. Since the original intent of the web was to provide a cross-platform solution to everyone, I can see their point. Most of the panel disagreed however, believing that Apple needs to take advantage of their strengths, their main one being the control of both ends of the Internet experience. Others pointed out that, as with everything else on the web, others (Microsoft) will easily be able to provide the same services within six months (though I'll bet not as seamlessly as Apple can).

One panel member was very anti-KidSafe, Apple's answer to site blocking software, stating that it will be ineffective to anyone who really tries to break it, and hack codes will be readily available shortly. I disagree since, as Jobs stated yesterday, KidSafe is an OS-based solution, and while a hack may appear, I think it will take a MUCH longer time than some might believe.

Later on Thursday, I attended a session hosted by Thomas Dolby Robertson (who's early rise to fame was "She Blinded Me With Science", a pop song from the early 80's). He founded Beatnik a couple years ago and today discussed "Sonification of the Web," or bringing sound to user interactions to enhance the web experience. Robertson believes that the web today is equivalent to 1920's movies, just before sound was introduced.

Using Beatnik's plug-in (and it will be a grand future when we won't need plug-ins to advance our browser capabilities), browsers can utilize RMF files, which allow the user to experience audio in real time, not downloaded time. RMF offers security, multitrack capability (meaning incidental music can be playing on your site and other sound effects can play over the music), can incorporate MP3 and MIDI files, uniform sound quality and very small to be stream-free.

Tags in HTML can be used to affect RMF playback, including the ability to crossfade, control volume, order played, etc. RMF music can also exist between pages.

According to statmarket.com, the Beatnik plug-in is the fifth largest installed plug-in, right before RealPlayer's G2 plug-in (standalone players are not counted in this survey) and just behind QuickTime 4.0.

Anyone can author RMF files to interact with web pages and we are going to see a huge explosion of sound over the next two years.

In the meantime, check out these incredible sites... www.beatnik.com to get the plugin (and definitely check out the GrooveGram section, where you can take popular artists songs and remix them to create all new music!!! Thomas demoed this and it was really, really wild!), www.sonicopia.com/pokesite/ and digital.broadcast.com/dbeatnik/frame_interactive.html.

There's a lot of great products here at MacWorld Expo this year, and I'll try to highlight some of the extreme ones tomorrow.

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Roderick Martin, web site consultant and Mac fan, has been using Macs on and off since 1987 and became a Mac owner in 1996 when he changed careers from television promotion and marketing to web site development. His web development company, Network 23 uses Macs every day to enhance the Internet surfer's experience. Rod left 70-degree weather in Illinois to attend MacWorld Expo in San Francisco where it is 50 degrees and much less flat.

Copyright © 2000 by Bill Fox
All rights reserved--no use permitted without attribution.

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