SolveYourProblem
Article Series: Audio & Video Streaming
Streaming FAQ and Tutorials
Streaming
vs Downloading - Is There A Difference?
Streaming and downloading are two different
methods of Internet video and audio presentation. Streaming
is generally the act of playing audio or video material while
connected to the Web which downloading is playing audios or
videos from your computer.
Playing
streamed audio and video requires an Internet connection
and playing downloaded audio and video does not. There is a
purpose for both. If you have a higher speed connection it
is usually just easier to play material right online. However,
if you have a slower speed connection such as dialup you are
better off downloading each video or audio piece to your computer
first.
No matter what speed of connection you have you will find
that you have no interruptions in play if the video or audio
presentation is downloaded to your computer. In contrast, when
you play the streaming video sometimes you will notice the
possibility of broken sound coming through your speakers or
a sudden discontinuation of play. The chance of interruption
while playing streaming music online decreases with the increase
of the speed of your Internet connection, however.
The advantages
of streaming over downloading is that Internet
users will be able to immediately view or listen to the media
being played. Unlike downloading, many users prefer to just
listen online because they don’t want to spend minutes, or
sometimes hours, waiting for the downloading process to be
completed.
However, those who have a fast Internet connection (i.e. such
as will benefit from being able to quickly download media to
their computer. These presentations played offline directly
from a computer generally produce a higher quality sound. Downloaded
media is usually the best kind to save onto a CD-ROM or other
disk. Songs and other musical content are usually recorded
in this fashion.
Streaming
audio or video is the better choice over downloadable
audio if your goal is to encourage site visitors to hang around
your website a little longer. It’s one thing that will pique
their curiosity about what services you offer. More importantly,
streaming video is a convenient way to clearly describe what
you are all about, and the most efficient way to market your
services.
Downloadable media is the better choice over streaming media
if you want to give your website visitors something to take
“home” with them. Downloaded presentations will remain on consumers’
computers or e-mails and they can refer to those files over
and over again.
In addition, downloading and streaming media both serve their
purpose and serve it well. If you place streaming music on
your website, for example, you will be able to let your visitors
hear the quality of sound they will experience if they purchase
songs from you.
Adding media content to the pages of your website also provides
less monotony for the visitors of your site, and a convenient
way for visitors who don’t have much time on their hands to
quickly learn all about you. Besides including music downloads
you can add flash media presentations, welcome pages, spoken
product usage tutorials, and more.
One tip to using downloading or streaming to your advantage
is to make sure you use ethical practices while in the process
of adding this media content to your site. That means do not
add any illegal spy ware or tracking devices, which are harmful
to people’s computers. Also, remember that most people cannot
stand pop-up ads, or even pop-under ads for that matter.
The media that you add to your website should speak for itself.
If you present your streaming or downloadable free and paid
product in an easy-to-access format you are sure to have people
visit your site over and over again.
One other thing you may want to know is that you may be limited
only by the hosting package that you have registered for. Perhaps
for only a few dollars more your web host company can provide
extra tools for you to add what you would like to your pages.
For instance, some web hosting companies provide an option
to instantly insert an MP3 file link to right to the web page.
If your web hosting company provides this easy way to add
an audio file then all you have to do is insert that file where
it asks you to do so. You don’t have to have any advanced knowledge
of HTML, JavaScript or any other fancy web designed programs.
All you need to do is go to a menu and click an “insert music”,
“insert audio” or similar titled menu button and you will be
prompted each step of the way.
You have the choice to either add streaming media content
or to add a downloadable media file. The choice is up to you.
You can keep this article for future reference to remember
the purpose of each. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2008
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