On Mon, 28 Jul 1997, Barbara Palmer wrote:

> John Chadwick wrote:
>
> >I expect to continue to support both platforms.  ... Granted, the
> distinction is
> >breaking down with the growth of the Web.
>
> John, I've heard this notion elsewhere.  I gather that, eventually,
> everybody's networks will operate on a standard communication protocol, just
> like the internet, and that most types of hardware and software will be
> supported with ease.  Can you elaborate for the clueless newbie?  Is the
> intention that our internal networks will be using internet protocol (ip)
> and hypertext markup language (html) or similar?
>
Barbara,

Already there are "plug ins" for Netscape so that you can view video
clips, listen to audio clips, view animation, and read Pagemaker
documents, regardless of the platform (Mac, Wintel, Unix). There is
CuSeeMe and other types of audio/video conferencing systems. Once again,
all you need is the Internet address of the target machine along with a
fast enough link to the network to get decent quality, and you can talk
with someone in real time, regardless of the platform you are using.

Throw such integrated packages such as Microsoft Office or Corel Office
into the mix, and we are rapidly moving towards real platform
independence between Macs and PCs. We are not there yet, but we are
moving that direction. For those who must support both Macs and Wintel
machines, this is a great blessing. The ultimate winner will be the users
who are not necessarily computer savvy who will be able to exchange files
without worrying about lots of little gotchas that impede their work.

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John Chadwick, system analyst
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
1801 Mountain Road NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
[log in to unmask],     http://www.nmmnh-abq.mus.nm.us
phone: (505) 841-2843 FAX (505) 841-2866
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