The Internet is changing! The days when a website consisted of just some text and a picture or two is long-since passed.
Today the Web is nothing less than an immersive, audio-visual extravaganza!
It's versatile, it's interactive and it's ever-changing.
People forget that the web was, originally, designed as a means for scientists to share and access information and so, it was understandably structured and rigid. When lay people first began surfing the web during the early nineties the interaction was limited, you could read text, look at pictures, click on icons, but the content was fixed and inflexible. Today the web is a far more malleable and liquid entity, providing hitherto unforeseen levels of interaction, collaboration and functionality.
Now, at last, the web has become a true community, the global village that was spoken of a decade ago has now come to pass. People are meeting and chatting on bulletin boards and social networking sites, collaborating and editing wikis, uploading their photos to photo galleries, creating their own homepages, blogs or "spaces" listening to or creating their own radio stations (podcasting) or sharing videos on sites such as YouTube.
Together, these new applications, and dozens more like it, make up what the industry has come to call Web 2.0.
Web 2.0 is a concept which encapsulates the various applications which make up the new, second generation of websites and internet applications. Web 2.0 is all about power to the people, it's set to do for the Internet, what graphical operating systems like Windows done for computing as a whole. This is no fad, this is the future and many businesses have already begun to embrace these concepts fully.
There are many different types of audio and audio/sound formats out there. We'll help you chose the right one for you.
Pure Audio: Though it always depends on nature and content of the site, we generally recommend on using audio sparingly for subtle, unobtrusive background music, ambience or atmospherics. Remember if a user visits your site and doesn't like what he or she hears, they'll click back immediately and visit a competitor instead. So though you might feel like announcing your site with a loud, triumphant fanfare, remember that not everyone wants to hear one first thing on a Monday morning!
A site with a good soundtrack, though, can make your page more memorable and, if users like what they hear, they're certain to return. So if you feel that your site could benefit from the addition of audio we can provide you with, or create for you from scratch, sound effects, atmospheric sounds and music for your site.
Pro: If done properly it can make your site more memorable.
Con: Music takes up a lot of bandwidth, site will be impossibly slow to load for users on dial-up. Licensing issues relate from using copyrighted music.
MIDI files: Not strictly audio, rather a digital version of a player piano program, with digital information corresponding to specific musical notes. So instead of playing recorded audio - which are large files - a MIDI file can be very small and so the music is "performed" via the MIDI device, such as a keyboard, drum machine or synthesiser, or, in this case, your computer's sound card.
Pro: Very small files, quick to load even on dialup.
Con: Dependant on the quality of the sound card, on an expensive card the MIDI might sound quite impressive, whereas on a cheaper, or even standard card it will generally sound like an MIDI ringtone or a very old video game.
Streaming Audio, online radio, podcasting; essentially it's the same thing - playing audio over the Internet.
It might sound like a gimmick, but having your very own online radio station is actually a great way to boost traffic to your site and increase its overall search engine rating. It's also a great way to provide a uniform music policy for your company. So, not only can people "tune in" to your radio online, you can also arrange so that all your stores play the exact same stream as, indeed, does your telephone network when customers are put on hold.
At present Brionglóid Media is in the process of creating its very own streaming audio network which will provide hours of commercial-free, royalty-free music to suit your business.
Pro: Gain more visitors to your site. Create a uniform musical policy for your business.
Con: Licensing issues arise from using copyrighted music.
Inline videos €5 per video of €20 for ten.
YouTube; it's perhaps one of the most revolutionary concepts ever to arise in the history of broadcasting. It hasn't been around for long and yet already it's changed our lives forever. From the silliest home-made candid camera moments, to seldom-seen footage of war-torn countries as seen from the soldiers stationed there, YouTube is more than just broadcasting for the masses, it has, in many cases, helped to bring about real social change.
It didn't take long for everyone to sit up and take notice either, whilst some countries have tried to ban it and some companies and organisations have tried to shut it down, others, such as the European Commission or the hopefuls in the 2008 US Presidential election, have been quick to realise the power of this new cultural phenomenon and rush to capitalise upon it.
Now, for as little as €5 (for file conversion and upload) you can join in the revolution.
Much like YouTube or Google Video we now you can display videos (any type you wish) on your web page (inline). If you have files from a camcorder or digital camera we can convert them into the desired format and upload them for you. Then anyone who wishes to view the videos need only click on the play icon on your video to view your footage.
Inline Quicktime videos - €5 per video.
You can also display Quicktime streams on your website. Quicktime is a video format created by Apple to display videos - for example Apple's own movie trailers site. Many digital cameras also take movies in this format also. Quicktime is recommended for users who want to have high resolution videos with crisp picture quality on their site.
Flash is, without a doubt, one of the most important web standards, providing all manner of interesting content; from snazzy web buttons and menus, to animations and slideshows to fully interactive environments such as games and of course, videos.
Flash can also incorporate audio for example by providing sound effects when somebody clicks or mouses over a button or menu, or as a musical accompaniment to a picture slideshow.
Create your own customisable discussion forum (also known as a bulletin board) where various users can log in and leave comments and create and respond to various discussions and topics. Users can create their own unique member profile with their own unique username and avatar (picture), use colourful text effects and smilies, host polls and receive emails when their comments have been replied to. You can also set up moderator accounts to censor posts, keep an eye on members and delete their posts and accounts if necessary.
See our own forum
User-friendly gallery interface. Upload pictures to your very own photo gallery and arrange them by name or date into specific sub-galleries. The gallery interface creates thumbnails (miniature versions of your pictures) to be displayed.
Gallery can then be viewed by visitors to your site, either by linking to the gallery directly, or by linking to specific files or folders. Users can then click on a thumbnail to see the full picture.
See our very own gallery
Create your own online journal, add images, allow people to add their comments.
Choose from a number of customisable themes to give your blog its own unique look and feel. Prior knowledge of HTML is not essential but is a bonus.
See our own test blog or our view news page.
Create and add your own wiki to your site just like Wikipedia.
A wiki is a new and exciting means of displaying and sharing information in an open and collaborative way.
Add live, up-to-the-minute news, weather and other information feeds direct to your site from a variety of sources. A great way to attract visitors and an even great way of making sure you keep up to date with the news that's important to you.
To see some of our media work please see our gallery or view our portfolio.
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