You can't be in business without being serious about the Web. Most of us are serious about it, but we're not always smart about how we use it. Consider plug-ins -- add-on software programs that let you view flashy graphics, fly through virtual 3-D worlds, tune in to radio broadcasts on the Web, and create interactive presentations -- all from within your browser.
Since Netscape launched its Navigator browser less than two years ago, plug-ins have become a cottage industry. As of this writing, 90 of these little applications are listed on Netscape's plug-in page. Here's the dilemma: you can waste a lot of time downloading and installing plug-ins that you don't need. But some of them are actually useful. If you ignore them altogether, your browser will fail to recognize a whole suite of proprietary audio, video, and multimedia formats.
I'll save you some trouble. After logging thousands of hours on the Net, I've narrowed all those plug-ins down to just ten -- the essential browser add-ons for doing business online, plus two bleeding-edge plug-ins that you should check out as indicators of future possibilities for enhancing the Web.
Power Tools: RealAudio, Net Toob, Shockwave.
To experience the Web fully, you need to be able to play all the sights and sounds that are available online. Navigator 3.0 will handle a lot of it for you -- using sound files in WAV format or video clips in Quicktime format, for example -- but there are several other standards out there.
According to its creators, some 7 million people have downloaded RealAudio. The RealAudio Player 2.0 plays compressed audio files, which can include speeches, music clips, and even live Internet radio broadcasts. This freeware features "streaming audio," meaning it plays audio on demand. Go to National Public Radio's site (http://www.npr.org), and RealAudio will play a Clinton campaign speech as the file is downloading. You can also pause, rewind, and fast-forward audio files.
RealAudio Sampler. Check into AudioNet (http://ww2.audionet.com). If you own Bell & Howell stock, you might want to listen in on the annual meeting; road warriors heading to Tulsa can check news and weather on radio station KTRT's online broadcasts. Many Web sites are adding video and animation clips. If you're in your office fantasizing about a ski vacation, go to Aspen Snowmass Online (http://www.aspenonline.com/aspenonline) for an in-your-face video of pristine powder skiing. Net Toob from Duplexx Software lets you automatically play the Aspen Snowmass clips and other files in popular Windows and Macintosh video formats without making you waste time downloading the file, storing it, and then finding the software to play it. Net Toob costs $14.95, but you can try it out for free before you buy.
One of the most popular plug-ins for Navigator is Macromedia's Shockwave, which provides tightly integrated animation and sound. Innumerable big-budget Web stations are using it to create animations, games with audio, TV-like effects, and moving diagrams. Move your cursor and buttons light up; a click of your mouse triggers animation and sound.
Shockwave Sampler. Download the player and then go to Xcelsoft's site (http://www.xcelsoft.com/scothome.html), where you can test-drive its home-banking system.
Geek Factor: Videos and animations are the most powerful tools for training and demonstrating products.
Weak Factor: Watching animations and videos can waste precious bandwidth if you've got a slow connection.
Coordinates: RealAudio, Progressive Networks, 800-230-5975,
(http://www.realaudio.com); Net Toob, Duplexx Software, 508-741-5500,
(http://www.duplexx.com); Shockwave, Macromedia, 800-326-2128,
(http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave).
Power Tools: Adobe Acrobat, ASAP WebShow, Word Viewer.
Adobe Acrobat is one of the premier systems for putting documents with page layouts on the Web. It lets you display reports full of pie charts and different fonts and graphics. You can store them in Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF) so they can be read on any system. Who uses Acrobat? Just about every government site, including the IRS.
Acrobat Sampler. Cruise to the Los Angeles Times site
(http://www.latimes.com/home/news/pdf) for online page layouts that look exactly like the paper version.
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