Path: utzoo!attcan!lsuc!atha!aupair.cs.athabascau.ca!kevinc
From: kevinc@cs.athabascau.ca (Kevin Crocker)
Newsgroups: comp.groupware
Subject: Re: Audio & Video Needed for Group Support?
Message-ID: <632@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca>
Date: 25 Jan 91 00:07:16 GMT
References: <14533@uswat.UUCP> <20965@crg5.UUCP> <616@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca> <20995@crg5.UUCP>
Organization: Athabasca University
Lines: 47

szabo@crg5.UUCP (Nick Szabo) writes:

>In article <616@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca> kevinc@cs.athabascau.ca (Kevin Crocker) writes:
>[wants to try multimedia groupware to develop multimedia course]

>Good example!  Given that the product contains sound or video, 
>groupware that manipulates these media might be useful for the
>product developers.

>This is quite distinct from using sound and video to communicate emotions
>between workgroup participants.  Where the product involves emotions
>(eg advertisements), groupware that communicates emotions might be useful.
>Where the end product does not contain either emotions or sound/video
>-- the large majority of technical work -- groupware that communicates
>emotions, and for the most part sound/video capability, is not useful.

Sometimes it is difficult to separate the media from the message.
Especially in  this day and age of media management (sic!) that is
exercised by a wide variety of sources but most specially the media
experts like advertisers.  How much of TV advertising is devoted to a
single clear message and how much of it is devoted to manipulating the
emotive aspects of perception?  In attempting to develop materials in a
multimedia environment there are cues and informational content in all
aspects of both the message and the media container or channel(s).
Whether the information that exists within the message and channel is
relevant and useful is of course debateable -- what is not debateable,
at least to me, is the rather arbitrary decision to exise part of the
message or informational content.  As the receiver (decoder), I would 
prefer to exercise control (and perhaps build or develo filters) of the
informational content that I receive.  As a sender (encoder), I should
be cognizant of what I compose, how I compose it, and how I provide for
the enrichment of the receiver, as well as providing the capability for
receivers to filter the message as they see fit.

Now, when it comes to groupware, much communication takes place in side
bands whether it was intended or not.  For communication of pure
technical information where the focus is on encoding and decoding a
pure signal with 100% accuracy other side bands of communication will
introduce signal loss and dropout.  For other types of communication,
side band information may or may not be beneficial.

Kevin

-- 
Kevin "auric" Crocker Athabasca University 
UUCP: ...!{alberta,ncc}!atha!kevinc
Inet: kevinc@cs.AthabascaU.CA