Communication Technology Update, 10/e, 10th Edition

8

STREAMING MEDIA

Jeffrey S. Wilkinson, Ph.D.*

The world of streaming media has not only matured, it has become quite complicated. As a technology, streaming media over the Internet is simply transmitting audio and video from one computer to another (McEvoy, 2001). Early predictions that streaming would become the new broadcasting are finally being realized through network upgrades and Americans migrating to broadband. A decade ago, the Internet provided a seemingly limitless array of text- and image-based information. A few years later, radio stations and music sites offered Web listeners an unsurpassed number of choices for sound and music.

In 2006, as the percentage of broadband households reached 68% in the United States (Nielsen/NetRatings, ...