Selling a valuable and complex product like a car requires a complex transaction process, so the company has adopted the applet to help consumers navigate the process. The trust factor is important, so e-tailers also use Audiobase to give the cold screen a human touch. BYOBroadcast sells its service to real estate agents, so they can phone in information about houses listed online, or outlets that want to post news or announcements. One high school even wants to have students post foreign language homework online. While the technical barriers may have been overcome, problems exist.
Cost remains an issue.
Consumers can find messages annoying. And large audio files could slow Web site transmissions. The last issue remains the biggest barrier for video - the next step toward realizing the multimedia dream of the Internet. Companies like Radical Now have developed Java video applets, but video still consumes eight to 12 times the bandwidth that audio uses. As long as it does, video may have to wait for the fiber-optic network to grow before it can be adopted easily across the Web.