ittai@shemesh.gba.nyu.edu (Ittai Hershman) (11/26/90)
Proposal: The creation of a newsgroup called "comp.multimedia" to discuss interactive multimedia technologies and applications: systems which combine text, graphic images, animation, sound, and/or video, with computer technology. The newsgroup would promote discussion of relevant technologies (e.g. DVI, CD-I, CD ROM, videodisc) applications and methodologies. Rationale: At present there is no newsgroup which addresses "multimedia" technology and applications per se. There are three groups which discuss specialized aspects: comp.mail.multi-media, comp.ivideodisc and comp.cog-eng. None, however, is regarded as a focal point for "multimedia" and all suffer from crossposts as a result. "Multimedia" is a group of technologies with a lot of momentum, in the same way that "AI" and "groupware" have been before. As these technologies and their applications mature, traffic may dictate the formation of subgroups (like: comp.multimedia.interactive, comp.multimedia.desktop, comp.multimedia.dvi, etc.). At the moment, however, one forum with one unified name would be best in my opinion. Naming: Ten days ago I floated the idea for "comp.multimedia" on the comp.ivideodisc newsgroup. The reaction was positive, but a number of people voiced dissatisfaction with the term "multimedia". One person typified the naming problem when he stated: "The lexical token `multimedia' is pretty much debased." Alternatives such as "polymedia" and "new-media" were suggested. My response to these concerns is that whether we like it or not the term "multimedia" has stuck to this stuff. I suggest its use in the title simply because it is the term which most people associate with the topic and is therefore most likely to attract those who are interested. I hope we do not spend the next month -- the alotted time for discussion before a vote, arguing about neologisms. Unless this gets bogged down in hopeless disagreement (which I hope does not occur), I will continue the process with a "call for vote" on December 15th. I ask all interested parties to voice an opinion on news.groups in response to this message (preferably positive :-) and to vote accordingly (via e-mail) in response to the "call for vote" on December 15th. Ittai Hershman Associate Director of Academic Computing NYU Stern School of Business