It estimates mid-1996 as the time frame that mainstream companies will incorporate multimedia into their strategic plans. Out of the gate, multimedia applications will be concentrated on the local networks, among trainers, educators and executives. But it will flood out. It's easier to amble down the hallway. Videoconferencing becomes attractive when communicating with people in other buildings or cities.
Distance learning becomes valuable when distance is involved.
The impact of multimedia on tomorrow's networks has not been lost on vendors, who'd like you to believe that putting multimedia on the network is not going to be particularly disruptive. Networks were constructed for data, and if packets arrive a few milliseconds late or out of order, the applications don't care. The users don't see it. It's simply not true for video or voice. Two weeks before I saw Apple's QuickTime VR demo, Cisco sponsored a multimedia seminar for its high-level customers and the press.