T 4.7

Multimedia is defined as text, graphics, video, animation, audio, and other media that can be used to help an organization efficiently achieve its goals. [1] All businesses use the multimedia text, graphics, and audio in one form or another. Text in business is used for websites, contracts, procedures, and more. Graphics are used in business to make sales presentations, persuasive charts, company logos, etc. Creating and altering audio is used in businesses to record sales calls, play music while working, and is used in almost all videos.  The focus of my article will be describing free software that any business can use to create and modify the multimedia text, graphics, and audio.

When I first heard about the open source Open Office, I thought it only was used as a word processor. However, Apache OpenOffice is an open-source office productivity software suite containing word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, formula editor, and database management application. [2] Open Office is great for small businesses who cannot afford multiple Microsoft Office licenses or who want to support open source projects. Most small businesses will use it with text and graphics multimedia. Businesses can use it to make reports, sales presentations, and view raw data in a spreadsheet. It can also open Word documents, and slowly more and more people are using Open Office. By analyzing website visitor’s ability to see certain fonts, a recent study of 20 countries found that 9% of people in the United States have Open Office installed, and Poland and the Czech Republic had the highest percentage of users with 22% usage. [3]

Graphics multimedia is a very important aspect of businesses.  Businesses who want an advanced, open source graphics editor turn to Gimp. I have never heard of Gimp, even though it is often cited as a replacement for Adobe Photoshop. [4] I can see small businesses using Gimp to make quick alterations to pictures such as cropping or reducing the image size. The simple editing of pictures and adjusting colors beyond the basic Microsoft Paint is essential for all businesses.

Audio multimedia is being used more and more on the internet by businesses. Once edited, audio files can also be used to enhance presentations, create music, develop audio books, record podcasts, and enhance video and animation. [5] I see even small businesses making Youtube videos now. Everyone hates watching videos that are hard to hear or understand. I found an open source program called Audacity which is a free digital audio editor and recording application that has over 75 million downloads. [6] You can just drag any audio file into Audacity and edit it. A feature I like is called “normalize” which makes the sound levels of the entire audio clip about the same volume.

In conclusion, multimedia which includes text, graphics, and audio are used in businesses daily. The open source software Open Office, Gimp, and Audacity can be used in a small business to create and edit all of their important multimedia for free.

Sources:

1. Page 334 of the book
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_office
3. http://ostatic.com/blog/openoffice-org-by-the-numbers
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIMP
5. Page 336 of the book
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audacity_%28audio_editor%29