Computer Hypermedia System - A computer hardware and sofware system that
allows the compostion and display of nonsequential documents that may
include text, audio, and visual information and in which related information
may be linked into webs by author or user.
Multimedia - Sequential or simultaneous use of a variety of media formats in
a given presentation or self study program.
Multimedia system - A combination of audio and visual media integrated into
a structured, systematic presentation.
Computer Multimedia System - A computer hardware and software system for the
cmposition and display of presentations that incorporate text, audio, and
still and motion images.
My comments: I see these as two distinct categories. Some programs may be
multimedia, but not hypermedia, or they may be multimedia, with hypermedia
features as well (I have certainly seen and worked with more multimedia that
is NOT hypermedia, than those that are).
Hypermedia could be a text only structure (text IS media), so then it would
not be multimedia as well. Most hypermedia used now is probably multimedia,
but not necessarily, by definition.
>Pat Ward wrote:
>
>> Does anyone have good definitions for hypermedia and multimedia.
>> Defintions that define the differences??
A previous reply:
>Hypermedia and multimedia are the same in my mind. Hypertext is the
>original term that was coined quite some time ago. Carrying the idea
>of links between "units" of text to links between "units" of images,
>audio, video, etc. gets us to hypermedia.
>
>Multimedia is perhaps a subset that simply means "multilpe forms of
>media," i.e., text, audio, video, images, etc. It's hard to imagine
>multimedia without hyperlinks though so we're back where we started.
Joan E. Hendrix
Instructional Systems Design and Program Evaluation Consultant
Simms Industries, Inc.
jhendrix@telepath.com
Joan E. Hendrix