Why?   I like music and video and other neat stuff like that.   As an audio/videophile with a pretty decent, near-high end (okay, let's just say it's "budget" high end, like US$12,000), I think multimedia capability on the PC is kinda cool.

DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) video
With the things that I've installed in Falcon, I've gained the ability to have him hook up to my 55" TV to watch DVD videos and could hook up his sound to my Marantz Dolby Digital decoder, if I had a free jack (there's a standalone DVD player and laserdisc player hooked to it already) and fire away with 5.1 sound... all from my PC!   The Pioneer 10x DVD-ROM drive is the latest DVD technology available - a "5th generation" model, as opposed to my measly "1st generation" Toshiba consumer DVD player (bought the week DVD players were first made available to the public almost 3 years ago), but I do have the sound currently going through my Dolby Prologic decoder/preamp.

And regarding the DVD phenomena...   I've followed the whole issue, the debates, the screamouts, etc., from the beginning...   watching the audiophiles, videophiles, general home theater buffs, and the computer industry discuss the whole idea of "convergence" technologies.   In essence, the DVD, like the CD, is a technology that can be implemented both in standalone consumer players/recorders and within the confines of the personal computer.   Prior to release to the public, the initial DVD fiasco, with early competing formats, brought forth comparisons to the VHS vs Beta debates and which format would win.   Suffice it to say, thankfully (a boon to the consumer) all of the affected industries finally agreed on a standard MPEG format for encoding data on the disc.

Although attempting to predict the outcome and/or success of a new format can often be tricky, after having purchased an audio CD player in '86 (about 3 years after its debut) and never expecting the stores to dump almost all of their Lps in less than 5 years (although vinyl is making a serious comeback!), it might be safe to say that within the next 5 years, DVD video will be well on its way busily replacing the VCR tape, ie., the pre-recorded movie tape.   And especially since all the major movie studios have reluctantly jumped on the bandwagon.   One thing that might guaranatee this is the fact that consumer DVD players debuted at what can be considered a heavily discounted price, ie., under US$400.   Similar introductions of new tech, like the early CD players and VCRs, debuted in the over US$1000 range.   Keeping the technology "cheap" is what gets it out there and the cost of a DVD movie is comparable to the price of the VHS version (although averaging just a little higher in cost at an avg. of US$25).   This is cheaper than the laserdisc version, which is often priced at an average of US$40 or more.   However, the DVD version is value-added in that in a majority of the releases, you get "extra" material, eg., a menu, trailers, commentaries, bonus tracks, etc.   Additionally, you can have multiple screen formats, ie., pan and scan and wide-screen, along with multiple sub-title/spoken languages, and even multiple angles of the same scene!   Couple that with a major improvement in the picture resolution and sound, and the little extra is well worth it!

The one little drawback for me is that Linux support for DVD video is not quite here yet, but progress towards it is moving rapidly.   At issue, other than many of the decoder manufacturers being reluctant to release the specs of their hardware to the open-source community, is the fact that the decoding process in general is licensed in such a way as to make it difficult to release under the GPL.   But, since the community has made the plausible argument to hardware manufacturers that they can sell more hardware by releasing the drivers and/or code for drivers for more OSs, including Linux, a shift in hardware manufacturer attitude is finally taking place, eg., Creative's recent embrace of open-source and release of the specs for its dxr2 DVD decoder and SoundBlaster Live! cards.   Thus, a little common sense is beginning to prevail and I look forward to viewing my DVD movies in the very near future using my Creative dxr3 (hint hint!) decoder card, from something other than windoze...

DVD-ROM
The DVD-ROM format in general, is something that is expected to shortly supplant the current CD-ROM format, mainly due to the fact that DVDs can hold far more data (GBs worth) than the conventional CD-ROM, which can only hold up to 650MB.   The recordable DVD is just about here, however, the recording format wars have begun in earnest and how it will end is beyond me...

The Web and the increasingly ubiquitous "Web Cam"
Well, here is where multimedia has really taken off, with streaming audio and video and the like.   The advent of the inexpensive minature camera and access to dedicated, broadband lines from a residence, has taken video telecasting technology into a whole new arena, although most of what is being broadcast is 1-way, ie., someone connects a small "web cam" to their PC, turns it on, and lets it rip for anyone to stop by and view!   But it's interesting that the "videophone" has been out for over 30 years and has yet to catch on.   Recall it's use in such Sci-fi classics as 2001:A Space Odyssey (we're almost there folks) from 1968 and Blade Runner from 1982.   It may come sooner than I think, once people experience video-teleconferencing over the web!   Either that, or you'll have a massive backlash due to "the need for privacy" issue...  I think the hesitation, at least here in the U.S., is because we're just too vain... :-)

I do like tuning into the various "webcasts" and nightly enjoy the various streaming audio sites, although I await the day when I can find more sites offering their music at higher stream rates, eg., >20-40kb/s avg., so that I can experience real stereo... :-).   There are sites that might feature 100kb/s streams for certain programming and a few that offer the excellent 300kb/s (broadcast quality) video, but these are few and far between - mainly because upwards of 90% of the residential web-surfing population still do so via dialup.   Okay, say it....   Just turn on the damn radio if you want decent music...   Yeah, yeah, but this is "convergence" folks!   :-)

The one other thing I do look forward to is a realization that Linux is here to stay and that those out there who create player software, will offer up their code to the open source community (most give their player applications away for free, so there should be no excuse), so that I can then enjoy the various sites that use that company's software to create the multimedia on their particular site.   One day...
 

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