[AG-TECH] AG 2.0 - easier operation

[Osland, CD (Chris)]

Can I pick up on a point made on the first day of Ivan's
presentations - about ease of access to auxiliary materials
(e.g. .ppt files).  I asked whether information about these
resources (master name, file location, suggested application)
could be included as part of the session's description.  In his
reply, Ivan indicated that the general feeling was that was this
sort of facility was beside, or beyond, what AG 2.0 was addressing.

What interests me is that the idea of an agenda with the
resources included is exactly what is happening at present, in
an unformalized way.  The meeting notice for the sessions had
a URL to a web page that was an agenda that contained URLs
which were the .ppt files, and a note of the master location!

I'm past my days as a programmer, but it seems to me that an
interface that, instead of going to a virtual venue, goes to
a meeting, is not a radical change (in terms of implementation!)
In going to a meeting (and the associated virtual venue becoming
'where you are' as a result) it is also not difficult for the
agenda/resource files also to be displayed and the master server
location set.  By clicking on each resource as each agenda item
comes up, it shouldn't be difficult for the appropriate application
to be launched, should it?

By this means, the majority of small meetings could be run by the
participants, without the mandatory use of an operator who is the
only one who knows the magic runes required to invoke DPPT!

I'm a passionate advocate of AG, and the three things that are
preventing its wider acceptance are:

	cost - this is being addressed by any number of initiatives

	network bandwidth - most UK academic institutions don't
		have (= can't afford) anything above 2 Mb/sec);
		many of those with better links (100 Mb or above)
		have or are building AG nodes

	operator (running) costs

I feel that the above idea would ENORMOUSLY reassure potential
users that they are not creating a new sink for manpower (=money).
naturally it would also make life about 10 times easier for
operators as well!

Whether this is considered as part of AG 2.0 or is an initiative
implemented in parallel and released together with (or even
before!) AG 2.0, I don't mind, but I do feel it is important.

Cheers

Chris

____________________________________________________________________
Chris Osland                         Office tel: +44 (0) 1235 446565
Digital Media and Access Grid      Medialab tel: +44 (0) 1235 446459
BIT Department             Access Grid room tel: +44 (0) 1235 445666
e-mail:   C.D.Osland at rl.ac.uk               Fax: +44 (0) 1235 445597

CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (Bldg. R18)
Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxon OX11 0QX, UK

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