GENERAL INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS

A book dealing with multimedia can only reach a certain level of scientific accuracy in relation to new technology products. The reason is obvious. ‘Multimedia’ is a newly evolved term, which brings with it the imponderables every newly evolved term brings: vagueness and uncertainty.

Multimedia products have introduced new forms of expression by combining the existing ones with new technologies, thus creating a new concept. Many experts in the field state that multimedia has signified the commencement of a new era in relation to communications. Its essential ingredient is not solely interactivity, as one would expect (although interactivity still is the key feature for this kind of communication), but the amount of data multimedia products carry. Information as such has become extremely important. The more information you possess, the more power you have. The possession of information is the key to the successful creation and marketing of a multimedia product. The information contained in it is the crucial factor when consumers decide to purchase. The need for a free flow of information around the world is the ultimate reason for the financing of communication industries. The ability to distribute such information is the parameter by which financial success in the international market is measured. Information has to do with development, evolution, culture, civilisation and state power. Interactivity is valuable in so far as it facilitates the manipulation of information and responds to the needs of the user with regard to that particular information.