ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the various multimedia delivery systems available to the client. Suggesting a medium for delivering a multimedia program would logically be the job of the developer-vendors since they have their fingers on the technology pulse. Knowledge is power, so here is an overview of the proliferation of digital media since the personal computer matured beyond the word processor and spreadsheet phase. It touches on the relatively short time line during which all these media have been developed. Since the variety of multimedia applications is constantly expanding, matching up the application with the best type of delivery media has become a quest. The major division between media categories is made up of two parts: transportable media and wired media. With the trends in media rising majestically to the surface, and then disappearing again, it's nice to know some of the background behind each medium's development and its current place in the media hierarchy.
