Web connection speed trends in US homes (used with permission ) In summary, just under half of home users in the United States connect to the Internet at 56 Kbps or less ( Figure 1). Among narrowband users, 39% use 56 Kbps modems, 6% use 28/33.3 Kbps modems, and 3.6% use 14.4 Kbps modems. In August 2004, 51.4% of active Internet users connected from home using broadband connections. Currently, more than 204 million people in the United States have home Internet access. Nonetheless, the use of rich media in Web-based programs has been encouraged by complementary technology trends: (1) the dramatic reduction in the cost and complexity of rich media recording and editing tools, (2) the fact that rich media is a defining characteristic of CD-ROM multimedia training, (3) the emergence of programming tools that reduce the complexity of delivering audio and video in websites, (4) the use of rich media content in a number of commercial websites (eg, sports, news, and entertainment sites) and company intranets, and (5) the growing number of households with broadband Internet access both in the United States and the world. Trends and Assumptions That Encourage Use of Rich Mediaĭeveloping rich media is an expensive proposition. The remainder of this section describes the trends encouraging the use of rich media and introduces key technology issues that set the stage for the presentation of our investigation. We also discuss ways that behavioral research can help elucidate how and when to use different website program ingredients, including, for example, the use of rich media.

We hope to highlight the ways that bandwidth constraints associated with rich media restrict both program reach as well as the number of concurrent end users who can successfully use a Web-based program. As a key part of our analysis, we will describe the development and testing of a practical index for gauging the amount of bandwidth that a Web-based program requires. We believe that any reasoned analysis of the use of rich media website content should also consider the possible barriers to its use. In this report we will review some of the forces that encourage the development of rich media websites, but we will also examine in considerable detail the factors that temper unbridled enthusiasm for this trend. One of the more impressive features of Web-based behavior change programs is their ability to incorporate rich media components that use video and audio. An early review of this burgeoning field concluded that Web-based interventions were relatively more helpful than non-Web controls across a broad range of behaviors and methodologies. For example, a number of reports have described encouraging results for Web-based interventions for quitting smoking, managing diabetes, managing depression and stress, and increasing exercise and losing weight. The Internet holds great promise as a delivery channel for programs designed to help people change their behaviors.

Bandwidth definition computer