sounds

like space....

Space and the internet; the only two places no-one can hear you scream....

But that's set to change.

Would you watch a TV show with no sound?

People used to watch movies with no sound as well; the "flicks."

But once the talkies came along they soon took over. People like to use their senses.

The history of every other media - print, radio, film and tv, tells us that the essence of this business is capturing and keeping people's interest.

To to that, you need to entertain. And the more senses you can stimulate and enrol to entertain, the better.

audio gets bad press...

What? Sound on a website? Shocking!

That's what most people still think. But why?

The answer to that question dates back to the days of dial-up internet access and glacial download speeds.

Back in that dim past the only sounds that could practically be used on web sites were short, sharp and invariably annoying.

To use anything long, like a song for example, was just out of the question as it meant your page would take forever to load, or perhaps not load at all.

Consequently, the sounds developers could use were, as stated above, short, sharp and invariably annoying.

Moreover, as their choice was limited, they got maximum use of the sound once it was downloaded and repeated it often.

Yes. It was horrible.

But there has been some progress since 1994.

History tells us that as technology improves people expect the medium to evolve with it - like the talkies.

Audio is a powerful tool for a developer - to set a mood, to highlight an event.

Its day is coming. The trick is to learn how to avoid the mistakes of the past.

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