Are you in training business? Courses can be devised which integrate voice and images. Live links can be introduced to take students to other sites and information pertinent to material being taught. Keep updated company policies online and couple them with news items and other materials relevant to employees. Motivational trainers can use text, audio, and video to sell their training materials when their audience is most inclined to buy!

Doing e-commerce? Show photos of product range with an audio track talking about each product as it appears. Use this in conjunction with text to take your visitors directly to order form for product while they're anxious and motivated to purchase.

Work with other merchants of complementary products; generate revenue by placing ads for their goods throughout your presentation.

Offering a service? Slide presentations can be timed so that bullet points come up in sequence on screen at specified time intervals. These could change color as presenter moves from point to point. Testimonials could scroll as you discuss your customer satisfaction policies. Restaurants could show a clip of chef preparing his "signature" meal while recipe is read or scrolled for visitor.

I've talked about Rich Media, of which streaming and SMIL are integral components, in many articles. (See: http://www.wbcimaging.com/articlesbyexperts.htm) Now Rich Media is in spotlight as traditional advertisers, losing faith in "tried and true" banner advertising campaign, start to hop aboard streaming bandwagon. As these advertisers shift their emphasis from banner click-thrus to ads that that are specifically used for branding, greater emphasis will be placed on Rich Media. With Rich Media, there are numerous opportunities to present complexities of branding that cannot be done with static banners - greater interactivity, sound, motion, and ability to display creatives in a larger space. As this occurs, SMIL will become key to making these ad campaigns an entertaining and "smooth as television" experience.

I'd like you to think about television news. It's pretty straightforward; information about events of day. But sophisticated audiences of today demand more than just "talking heads" on their television screens. So news is packaged as entertainment, with music and graphics to grab eyes and ears of viewer. When advertisers realize that web surfers are seeking this same experience, there will be a rush to duplicate this on Internet.

Then, all you have to do is...SMIL.

All downloading and swapping of MP3s has attracted wrath of RIAA because there are no digital security features associated with MP3, so millions of songs are freely shared everyday by millions of users. The files are small enough to be downloaded easily, or even sent to a friend as an email attachment.

Another thing that makes MP3s very exciting and compelling is that it is easy for people to become DJs by mixing their favorite songs. A lot of people have created their own compilation CDs where they take all of their favorite songs from different artists and bands and burn them to CD very quickly and easily.

Webcasting or Internet radio has also become very popular allowing listeners to "stream" audio on their computers. Unlike downloaded MP3s, streamed MP3 files aren't stored on your hard drive, but are broadcast like traditional radio through your MP3 player. Real Networks was one of first to offer streamed audio software, which uses a proprietary format known as RealAudio. Microsoft allows offers their own proprietary streaming audio through their Windows Media Application. If you do a search for "Internet radio" or "webcasting", you will find hundreds of Internet radio stations offering every imaginable type of programming.

Of course, as exciting as MP3s are, there are some legal and business battles that are being waged. MP3 itself is not an illegal audio format, but when people offer up MP3 versions of copyrighted material that is considered a copyright infringement. The Home Recording Act allows you to make copies of your music CDs for personal use but by law, you are not allowed to distribute or share these files with friends or family if they do not own a copy of CD.

The debate rages on as to whether or not MP3 and P2P file sharing programs are good for music industry. MP3 proponents believe that MP3s help promote music and musicians by getting music heard far and wide. On other hand, MP3 critics argue that free music will kill music industry and artists who depend on it. Essentially, it is a battle for control of music distribution. Artists can now bypass record labels and distribute their music very easily and effectively.

A balanced and compromised solution should benefit artists and music labels. There is no doubt that artists and musicians should be compensated for their efforts, yet a lot of new and upcoming bands distribute free MP3s as way to get their music heard. As buzz and excitement builds around band, people are more inclined to support bands by buying their CDs, attend concerts and purchase other band merchandise. Ultimately, bands and music labels probably don't want to bite hand that feeds them.

So, where does that leave us? Well, as we have seen many times over years, hot technology trends come and go. However, MP3s have really captured ears of music aficionados worldwide. With millions upon millions of MP3 audio files out there, and hundreds and maybe even thousands of MP3 related software that has been developed by software developers worldwide, there is no doubt that MP3s are here to stay.