Multimedia services is an attractive and potentially lucrative option. Some participants were quick to point out that it is not just the advances in technology which will ultimately define the state of the art of multimedia. Some felt that the conference had incorrectly emphasized technological advances when the future actually lies in more user driven software. They stressed that what gave a superior edge to multimedia is not its simultaneous audiovisual features but its interactivity. Multimedia is powerful because users, not producers, are in control.
Users can start, stop and begin again anywhere in the programmes.
Developing countries could lose out This unique capability has charted multimedia's role for the future. In an exclusive interview with Access at Banff, Tengku Dr Mohd. While he saw much potential in the technology within developing country settings, he also foresaw possibilities of less developed countries being denied extensive use of the technology because they lacked financial resources to acquire it. And that the strict application of intellectual protection laws on the technology upon the basis of developed country norms will hurt the Third World and be widely viewed as oppressive. He saw many opportunities for North South collaboration in the field.