Multimedia publishing

• Authors: Florian Brody
• Venue: The columbia guide to digital publishing
• Year: 2003

Since the format of the book evolved from the continuous scroll to the page-oriented folio, no change in the practice of publishing texts has had such an impact on the way we perceive and use a book as electronic publishing. This paradigm shift changes the way text is perceived in time and space and the integration of text, video, and audio into a multimedia product is a logical step in an electronic medium. Yet it is not the technology that undergoes the biggest change, but the role of the publisher, who has to re-emerge as the agent of a new medium, still in statu nascendi. In the first phase of multimedia, everybody seemed to be empowered by the new tools and technologies to become a multimedia producer. Most multimedia publications do not live up to the promise of an interactive and integrated experience, but remain an exploration into technologies without a clear goal. It is the publisher who needs to act as the integrator of multiple media types, multiple experts, and multiple industries in order to do his job--to turn an idea into a product and make it public. This chapter gives an overview of the different technologies, standards, and business issues to be considered when extending electronic publishing into multimedia.