For immediate release

Editorial contacts:

Greg Shepherd	0417 112 710
	greg@appleseed.com.au
Daniel Kerr	61 411961 338
	daniel@appleseed.com.au

IT2000 - Now Available

Appleseed Productions have announced the release of two major new video series on Information Technology. IT 2000 Systems and Connections and  IT 2000 Graphics, Media and Multimedia represent a  snapshot of the state of play of the information technology industry in the new millennium. Almost two hundred Australian and global companies were involved in the making of these programs. IT2000 Systems and Connections  looks at the whole drive to connectivity which is fueling IT growth across the business-to-business and business-to-consumer scene.  The TCP/IP protocol is underlying a growing uniformity of standards as intranets, extranets and the internet become the common ground. In the transition phase there are many compatibility and interfacing problems that need to be addressed. Database technologies like those implemented by vendors such as Oracle, IBM and SAP have become mission-critical for a number of businesses. Along with that, issues of data warehousing and web enabled intranets and extranets, founded on a mix of proprietary and open standards, have fueled a lot of growth in IT management. The future development of “open-source” operating systems like Linux is going to be interesting to watch - there is a lot of sympathy out there for experimentation with non-Microsoft based solutions.  "Everyone agrees the pace of change is immense.... the internet is all-pervasive, and is notching up the speed of change even more..."  "IT is on a rapid growth path upward.... There has been a fundamental shift in business and communication processes... that becomes clearer once you get up closer to some of the technologies concerned." "It’s all about getting connected... that’s the major value-add in IT processes... something that is glaringly obvious in business circles..." "XML is another great buzz word on the lips of every web-oriented company - it facilitates fast updating and changes to be made to web sites...  it is part and parcel of having information rapidly deployed on the internet... a key way of differentiating yourself from the competition." Greg Shepherd – Producer of the series. The series includes a case study of an ISP - in this case Vicnet.  Understanding how Vicnet fits into the telecommunications infrastructure goes a fair way to starting to see the bigger picture of worldwide information flow. It has connections via cable, satellite and microwave giving it both redundancy and flexibility.

The second series, IT2000 Graphics, Media and Multimedia   identifies the developments taking place at the ‘colour and movement”  end of IT. From black and white to colour, from static images to  audio, animation and video and from brochureware to highly interactive database driven sites - there is a lot of rapidly paced development in the graphics and (multi) media industries. The latest audio and editing technologies were used in the production of this series - it was shot on digital tape and edited on a Mac G3 and G4. All editors had constant access to the internet during the editing process to check facts and gather cutaways to illustrate the content. The series looks at design issues with multimedia producers as well as more traditional Graphic Arts. Software like Quark express, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator is being supplemented by web design tools like Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash with database interfaces like Drumbeat and Coldfusion supplying e-commerce connectivity. Everyone in the design area has had to become so much more internet literate. The series was made with the participation of many major players including Microsoft, Novell, Adobe, Fujitsu, Telstra, Yahoo, Sybiz, Sausage Software, Anderson Consulting, Interim, Looksmart, Oracle, Apple, Sony, Australian Information Industry Association, Iomega, Hewlett Packard, Pioneer,  Canon Australia, Drake Personnel, World Wide Web Institute, CSIRO, Sold.com.au, Connect.com.au, SMS Consulting, Candle Personnel, Comsyst, Cambridge Technology Partners, WSA Online, Startup.com, Broadcast Boffins, Connect, The Australian Computer Society, Autodesk, Advanced Software testing, Lemac, The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA), Internet.au magazine. Almost two hundred leading  IT companies were involved.

The titles of the programs in the series IT2000 Systems and Connections are: Operating systems, Linux, Networking, Databases, Software Development, Search Engines, Programming Languages, Information Systems, Jobs in Technology, The Internet, Internet Strategy, A Look at an ISP, E-commerce, E-commerce: Behind the Scenes, E-marketing, Telecommunications: Telephone Technologies, Telecommunications:Broadcasting and the Internet The titles of the programs in the series IT2000 Graphics, Media and Multimedia  are: Graphics: Image Manipulation, Graphics: Hardware & Workflow Management, Graphic Design: Concept to Print,  Desktop Printing: Evolution of Printing Technology, Computer Aided Design, The Multimedia Revolution, Designing Websites: Client Considerations, Designing Websites: Designers Tools, Video Editing,  Video Tape, Digital Stills Cameras and Sound Editing.