Date: April 28, 2000
Author: Ronald Wolak

Subject: Reply 2 to Nancy Burlingame's Discussion Topic #4

Reply 2 to Nancy Burlingame's Discussion Topic #4

The Apple QuickTime and Yahoo! Broadcast Web sites are excellent examples of multimedia portals. Both sites are designed to help visitors find the information they are looking for (i.e. multimedia content). Their ability to provide focused, easy to find content makes them highly usable (Fleming, 1998).

QuickTime

The QuickTime site has the Apple look and feel. Colors and graphics are combined in a very appealing format. Text-only links are kept to a minimum with the effective use of graphic buttons. Key to the site's usability is the download of the free QuickTime 4.1 application to visitor desktops. This process is simple, problem free, and does not require computer reboot to register the application.

QuickTime proves itself an efficient video compression system and an effective competitor to RealVideo, the de facto standard (England & Finney, 1999). Sample music videos, movie trailers, and fashion shows, were successfully delivered over the site using QuickTime.

Broadcast

Like QuickTime, the Broadcast site also retains the look and feel of its creator. Layout, colors, graphics, and navigation links are the familiar Yahoo! variety. The Broadcast site is consistent with the rest of Yahoo!. Consistency is a crucial factor in the usability of any interface (Head, 1999). Broadcast receives high marks in this area.

Streaming content from the site is available in two formats: RealPlayer and Windows Media Player. Both compression systems are effective. QuickTime is not an available media type. Streaming content available on the site includes both audio and video formats from virtually every area of interest. Examples include sports, entertainment, arts, CDs, audio books, radio, and TV.

References

England, E., & Finney, A. (1999). Managing Multimedia: Project Management for Interactive Media (2nd ed.). Harlow, England: Addison-Wesley.

Fleming, J. (1998). Web Navigation. Sebastopol: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.

Head, A. (1999). Design Wise: A Guide for Evaluating the Interface Design of Information Resources. Medford, New Jersey: CyberAge Books.