I am evaluating packages for providing media services on a web site.
Initially the service will be audio only however I don't want to do anything
to prohibit me from adding video in the future.

We have all seen sites that use Windows Media, Real Player, and also Flash
(just to deliver audio).

I'm looking for suggestions as to what the pros and cons are of each - for
the first round I'll need to choose one and stick with it rather than
supporting multiple players as many sites do.

Personally I don't like Real Player since they keep trying to sell their
"full" version and I don't want users to be bombarded with that - however if
there are compelling reasons to use it then I will consider it as an option.

Recently I visited a site that used flash for audio delivery - I was
impressed since once flash is installed it worked fine and the programmer
appeared to have complete control over the audio - and no popups trying to
sell me a new flash player.

I realize that this is a dot net group and not a media group - I've gotten a
lot of help here so I'll start here!

Thanks,

Fred

Hi Fred,

What kind of media services? Are you doing real-time audio broadcasting
or pre-recorded audio streaming?

I will not go into Real Player. It is just that bad :-)

I suggest you to adopt Flash technology. It has several advantages than
Windows Media technology (sorry to say that here) - Flash supports
multi-platforms (Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, IRIX), plug-n-play, and
work on all major web browsers (Opera, Safari, IE, Mozilla). Flash
content reaches 97% of Internet viewers.

- For pre-recorded audio streaming scenario

It's very easy to build a Flash interface to fetch data via the Inetnet.
You can also compile it as a standalone application. Flash MX has
built-in MP3 and audio buffering support.

- For real-time audio broadcasting scenario

By using Flash MX and Flash Communication Server together, you have the
ability to deliver A/V applications (such as video on demand, live
broadcasts, webcam chat, and real-time collaboration application).

Alex