1.1 The key question is not can you build a streaming business, but should you?

Streaming is hot, no question about it. This book is in your hands because you have some driving need, burning issue, or passing curiosity. Maybe your company has recently started a streaming project, or maybe you ve been streaming for years. Perhaps you build the technologies that make streaming possible, or perhaps you are wondering what kinds of businesses, apart from adult entertainment, can possibly make money with streaming. You are not alone. Streaming has survived from its buzzword start through its blacklisted backlash to become a major movement in nearly every industry. From the obvious such as media/entertainment and financial services to the less sexy worlds of pharmaceuticals, automotive, and aerospace, digital audio and video content delivered over a network or the Internet is grabbing headlines.

Admittedly, not everyone is yelling Full stream ahead! The Internet is widespread, but not ever-present. Certainly farmers from Iowa to the Ukraine are using slow dial-up connections, if anything at all. Many parents and grandparents may have e-mail accounts to write to children and distant relatives, but they do not use their AOL accounts to watch movie trailers, stream Internet radio, or other more advanced streaming applications.

With that said, virtually every vertical business segment today is finding value in streaming media. Besides the Internet itself, there is no other technology which allows you to communicate more efficiently and effectively than streaming media.