Editing Multimedia (section)

== Terminology ==
The term ''multimedia'' was coined by singer and artist Bob Goldstein (later '[[Bobb Goldsteinn]]') to promote the July 1966 opening of his "Lightworks at L'Oursin" show in [[Southampton, New York]], Long Island.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-10308-7_14 |chapter=Accessibility-by-Design: A Framework for Delivery-Context-Aware Personalised Media Content Re-purposing |title=HCI and Usability for e-Inclusion |series=Lecture Notes in Computer Science |year=2009 |last1=Badii |first1=Atta |last2=Fuschi |first2=David |last3=Khan |first3=Ali |last4=Adetoye |first4=Adedayo |volume=5889 |pages=209–226 |isbn=978-3-642-10307-0 }}</ref> Goldstein was perhaps aware of an American artist named [[Dick Higgins]], who had two years previously discussed a new approach to art-making he called "[[intermedia]]".<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.switched.com/2010/06/03/tech-art-history-part-2/|title=Tech Art History, Part| author=Matthew Zuras | publisher=Switched| date=June 3, 2010|access-date=August 27, 2012|archive-date=September 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930191814/http://www.switched.com/2010/06/03/tech-art-history-part-2/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On August 10, 1966, Richard Albarino of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' borrowed the terminology, reporting: "Brainchild of song scribe-comic Bob ('[[Washington Square (composition)|Washington Square]]') Goldstein, the 'Lightworks' is the latest ''multi-media'' music-cum-visuals to debut as discothèque fare."<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Richard |last1=Albarino |title=Goldstein's LightWorks at Southhampton |journal=Variety |date=10 August 1966 |volume=213 |issue=12 }}</ref> Two years later, in 1968, the term "multimedia" was re-appropriated to describe the work of a political consultant, David Sawyer, the husband of Iris Sawyer—one of Goldstein's producers at L'Oursin.

[[File:Ford Show 1987.jpg|thumb|left|Multimedia (multi-image) setup for the 1988 Ford New Car Announcement Show, August 1987, Detroit, MI]] In the intervening forty years, the word has taken on different meanings. In the late 1970s, the term referred to presentations consisting of [[Multi-Image| multi-projector slide shows]] timed to an audio track. However, by the 1990s, 'multimedia' had taken on its current meaning.

In the 1993 first edition of ''Multimedia: Making It Work'', Tay Vaughan declared, "Multimedia is any combination of text, graphic art, sound, animation, and video that is delivered by computer. When you allow the user – the viewer of the project – to control what and when these elements are delivered, it is ''interactive multimedia''. When you provide a structure of linked elements through which the user can navigate, interactive multimedia becomes ''hypermedia''."<ref>Vaughan, Tay, 1993, Multimedia: Making It Work (first edition, {{ISBN|0-07-881869-9}}), Osborne/McGraw-Hill, Berkeley, pg. 3.</ref> This book contained the ''Tempra Show'' software.<ref>{{cite web|author=National Museum of American History|author-link=National Museum of American History|url=https://www.si.edu/object/software-tempra-media-author-and-documentation-tempra-show-reference-guide:nmah_1278771|title=Software, TEMPRA Media Author! and Documentation, Tempra Show Reference Guide|website=Smithsonian|access-date=December 18, 2023}}</ref> This was a later, rebranded version of the 1985 DOS multimedia software ''VirtulVideo Producer,'' about which the Smithsonian declared, "It is one of the first, if not the first, multi-media authoring systems on the market."<ref>{{cite web|author=National Museum of American History|author-link=National Museum of American History|url=https://www.si.edu/object/att-6300-computer-and-virtualvideo-producer-software:nmah_1278750|title=AT&T 6300 Microcomputer and VirtualVideo Producer Software|website=Smithsonian|access-date=December 18, 2023}}</ref> 

The German language society [[Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache]] recognized the word's significance and ubiquitousness in the 1990s by awarding it the title of [[Word of the year (Germany)|German 'Word of the Year']] in 1995.<ref>[http://einestages.spiegel.de/external/ShowTopicAlbumBackground/a23795/l23/l0/F.html#featuredEntry ''Ein Jahr, ein (Un-)Wort!''] (in German) [[Spiegel Online]]</ref> The institute summed up its rationale by stating, "[Multimedia] has become a central word in the wonderful new media world".<ref>''Variety'', January 1–7, 1996.</ref>

In common usage, ''multimedia'' refers to the usage of multiple media of communication, including video, still images, animation, audio, and text, in such a way that they can be accessed interactively. Video, still images, animation, audio, and written text are the building blocks on which multimedia takes shape. In the 1990s, some computers were called "multimedia computers" because they represented advances in graphical and audio quality, such as the Amiga 1000, which could produce 4096 colors (12-bit color), outputs for TVs and VCRs, and four-voice stereo audio.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1996-10-19 |title=August 1994 / Commentary / R.I.P. Commodore 1954-1994 |url=http://byte.com/art/9408/sec14/art1.htm |access-date=2024-01-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961019193808/http://byte.com/art/9408/sec14/art1.htm |archive-date=1996-10-19 }}</ref> Changes in removable storage technology during this time were also important, as the standard [[CD-ROM]] can hold on average 700 megabytes of data, while the maximum size a 3.5-inch floppy disk can hold is 2.8 megabytes, with an average of 1.44 megabytes.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1016/B978-012170960-0/50027-X |chapter=Computer Architecture |title=The Electrical Engineering Handbook |year=2005 |last1=Chang |first1=Morris |pages=323–334 |isbn=978-0-12-170960-0 }}</ref> Greater storage allowed for larger digital media files and therefore more complex multimedia.

The term "video", if not used exclusively to describe motion photography, is ambiguous in multimedia terminology. ''[[Video]]'' is often used to describe the file format, delivery format, or presentation format instead of ''"[[footage]]"'' which is used to distinguish motion [[photography]] from ''"[[animation]]"'' of [[Artistic rendering|rendered]] motion imagery. Multiple forms of information content are often not considered modern forms of presentation, such as audio or video. Likewise, single forms of information content with single methods of information processing (e.g., non-interactive audio) are often called multimedia, perhaps to distinguish [[:wiktionary:static|static]] media from [[:wiktionary:active|active]] media. In the [[fine arts]], for example, [[Leda Luss Luyken]]'s [[ModulArt]] brings two key elements of musical composition and film into the world of painting: variation of a theme and movement of and within a picture, making ''ModulArt'' an [[interactive]] multimedia form of art. [[Performing arts]] may also be considered multimedia, considering that performers and [[theatrical property|props]] are multiple forms of both content and media.

In modern times, a multimedia device can be referred to as an electronic device, such as a smartphone, a video game system, or a computer. Each and every one of these devices has a main function but also has other uses beyond their intended purpose, such as reading, writing, recording video and audio, listening to music, and playing video games. This has led them to be called "multimedia devices." While previous media was always local, many are now handled through web-based solutions, particularly streaming.