Many people believe that the Web is turning into a broadcast medium.
The Multicast Backbone, or MBone, is a scalable portion of the Internet that delivers real-time multimedia while saving net bandwidth. H ardly a day passes when newspapers, magazines, or television commentators don't report a new idea or application that will change computing or the Internet forever. But if you step back from the hype and promises, the mostly static images accessible on the World Wide Web are only of limited interest and use to businesses and individuals. The truth is that the current capabilities of the Web are just the first stage in the evolution of the Internet. In fact, we are on the verge of another communications revolution that will transform the desktop from a rather limited piece of machinery into an intelligent agent capable of things never thought possible just a few years ago.