I would like to see inline sounds (au, wav or whatever) added to HTML 3.0. Let
me explain why.
I believe that the Web will eventually be adopted as a consumer standard for
network commerce/research/entertainment. As such it will need to grow into a
full multi-media protocol. Inline sounds will be necessary to present a rich
interface in the future. There is little reason to have inline images as part
of the user interface and not include sounds as adornments as well.
Certainly people will abuse this feature, just as inline images have been abused
(see http://bvp.wdp.com/BVPM/MooVPlex.html and other pages where the _only_
navigation is through _large_ image maps). The key is to stress that inline
sounds will be adornments, snippets of sound to enhance the user interface, not
take it over.
Then as the net grows in bandwidth, the capability to use it will already be
there.
Any thoughts?
Matt Verner
AT&T Bell Laboratories
j.m.verner@att.com