Macromedia , one of the world's leading multimedia developers, provides programmers and graphic designers the tools, including Director, to create digital media applications ranging from CD-ROMs to corporate videos. To meet the demand of its users, Company President and CEO Bud Colligan spoke about various architectural initiatives, including Macromedia Core Technology, Macromedia Open Architecture (MOA), Macromedia Information Exchange (MEA), Macromedia Common Scripting (MCS), and Macromedia User Interface (MUI). Recently, Macromedia has formed alliances with Netscape and Sun Microsystems to position itself as one of the leading multimedia developers on the Net. Through its browser, Netscape will incorporate Macromedia's multimedia features, while Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java programming language will enable programmers to easily add sound and video to Web sites. Accordingly, Macromedia will be releasing two exciting new products: Extreme 3-D and Shockwave. Extreme 3-D is a powerful 3-D graphics and animation rendering tool, while Shockwave for Director will allow users to author content on the Net, including movie post-production and compression. Thank you, Macromedia, for contributing to the extinction of poorly designed Web sites (a.k.a. "shovelware").
Still soaring from one of the most successful public offerings on Wall Street, Netscape's CEO and President, Jim Clark, talked about his company's goal to become the de facto standard data communications software company in the world. To reach this goal, he stated that the company needs to accomplish four objectives: 1) maintain its "openness" by implementing protocol in public domain; 2) provide multi-platform capabilities; 3) support embedded security; and 4) build APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). It was refreshing to hear Clark continue to support such "openness," a culture upon which the Net was founded and one that he helped to shape.
Andy Grove, President and CEO of Intel, touted the Company's Pentium Pro Processor, which will be twice as fast as the industry-standard Pentium. Grove also briefly discussed some cool technologies, including video telephony, Intercast, videoconferencing, digital modems, 3-D and virtual reality. His vision of the future includes people working on their PCs, not their TVs: "A TV will be in the Smithsonian in some period of time, and you will take your kids to see it [and you'll say], 'Look—your dad used to watch that!' "
Not to be outdone, Michael Spindler, President and CEO of Apple Computer, addressed new media applications, next-generation authoring tools and innovative product design—a longtime Company trademark. He also demonstrated a new, adrenaline-pumping 3-D accelerator in the new version of Quickdraw 3-D. Once again, Apple continues to deliver creative products to the desktop.
One of the most stirring and passionate presentations was given by Kai Krause, co-founder of MetaTools. Krause demonstrated some of his new software, including the latest versions of Bryce and Power Tools. Super Bryce will incorporate animation capabilities into an already impressive program, while Power Tools 3.0 will enable users to create limitless textures and gradients with its mutation features. MetaTools software, with its signature ease of use and breathtaking look and feel, continues to inspire. Bravo!
Long ago, visionaries realized that the marriage between Silicon Valley and Hollywood ("Siliwood") was inevitable because people want to be entertained through technology. After attending the conference, I came away feeling inspired and excited about the future of multimedia. By blending video, audio, animation, graphics and text, multimedia gives us, to entertain others, the creative tools that will forever change the face of marketing and turn our computers into digital dream machines, limited only by our imagination. Click!