Online! The Book

Streaming Media Platforms

The earliest streaming media experiments were done using the MBONE (multicast backbone), a network of highly specialized servers on the Internet. Participating in these broadcasts required a fairly high level of expertise and a high-powered computer. Another early technology was CU-SeeMe, developed at Cornell University, which allowed point-to-point video conferencing. However, it wasn't until RealNetworks released the first version of RealPlayer that streaming media really caught on.

In the ensuing years, many streaming media companies came and went, some were bought and absorbed by other companies, and some just fell by the wayside. Although there are still a number of fringe streaming media players, the vast majority ...