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Technology Choices
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In developing a project that is destined for both the Internet (or Intranet) and physical media (CD/DVD/Hard Disk) it can be extremely difficult to manage version forking (multiple variants of the same project) as development requirements may vary widely between the two. Physical media typically deals with executable applications targeted for a specific platform (Windows, Macintosh, Unix) in addition to media assets prepared for disk access (high-bandwidth) and mass-storage (CD/DVD). Historically, CD/DVD projects are built using tools such as Macromedia Director or Authorware that create executable applications for a targeted hardware platform and runtime. Media authors using these tools are required to develop their projects using a proprietary workflow, format and methodology specific to each tool and runtime. A project built in one tool cannot easily be moved (ported) to another's runtime, let alone ported to an Internet based distribution without significant reworking and reliance on a plug-in (Shockwave, Authorware Runtime Control). Internet development on the other hand tends to embrace standards such as XHTML, CSS and the DOM (Document Object Model) accessed via ECMAScript (JavaScript) in a standard runtime - in addition to supporting plug-in/ActiveX media objects such as Flash, QuickTime and WindowsMedia. In many cases it's much easier to adapt Internet technology to physical distribution than vice-versa. By using Internet technology it's possible to re-use a large portion (if not all) content created for the web within a CD distributed application. The application 'runtime' could be a shell incorporating either a web browser or a standalone version of Macromedia's web-centric Flash Player. Additionally, functionality not provided by the browser or Flash Player such as the ability to save to disk or play full-screen video, could be plugged in to the application runtime as required. When developing SCORM compliant content destined for a LMS there is a large amount of testing required to ensure that all content adheres to the standards defined in the specifications. Having to test multiple versions of the same content based on different runtimes, and potentially using different assets could result in significant overages in the project schedule and budget. It is also conceivable that these two versions (Internet and CD-ROM based) could look and perform radically differently, causing confusion to users. Maintenance is also complicated by having to maintain two (or more) different versions of the same content using two (or more) different tool sets.
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