Problems and prospects of multimedia industry in Bangladesh

In a house, one set of television is enough. There is no need for multiple television sets or newer models every day. The people of that house need daily newspapers and new books. Likewise, computer has limited use for other things.

In multimedia, many new things are published. The growth and potential of this industry are inevitable. Many of the major publications in the world are releasing multimedia versions of their publications. Keeping pace with the widespread use of computers, these digital publications are expanding.

So, the scope of such works is also increasing. Considering the context of our country, there are many suitable and skilled workforces for the profession. If the multimedia industry that is developing in a single effort of the private and small organizations in our country today cannot be taken care of, then this industry will be destroyed. The manpower created in this industry will be immersed in the sea of despair.

Multimedia is a sector that does not require advanced knowledge to work efficiently. And it's a profession that other packaged program users can't do by themselves. Here requires creativity, perseverance.

To do this, it does not have to apply the usual logic but it takes a lot of creativity and a lot of labor to present the topic beautifully. For example, a database program is created once using the Microsoft Axis Wizard to maintain an organization's database, and it can be run by a simple computer operator.

But for creating multimedia software, we need to edit the new video that contains the video, compress (reduce the size), use it in the right place, use the sound with the video, scan the new image and edit it on the computer. There is a lot of thought to be made and graphic design to make the field especially attractive to the presentation. That is, all the tasks here are new and to do these tasks requires a lot of creativity and a lot of labor.

Piracy is the main obstacle to the development of the domestic multimedia industry. When a product goes well, many unscrupulous dealers copy and market them using huge networks. On the other hand, the market network of multimedia maker companies is extremely limited.

Millions of copies of pirated songs, cinemas, and games CDs are sold in various CD / VCD stores in the country, where only a few stores sell domestic multimedia CDs. It is impossible for many to recognize these traders, let alone do something against them.

In the area where their shops are located, they have their own terrorist cadre forces. It takes extra money and time to do something. So there is nothing to do with economically disadvantaged organizations involved in the multimedia industry. Not only multimedia but many country songs and films are being copied in the market.

The multimedia industry is like a cottage industry. The owners of the organizations involved in this industry are the product planners, developers themselves. It is impossible for many to create a separate marketing department. Therefore, the more time we spend in product development, the less time we have to spend on marketing the product. Multimedia software CDs are usually offered for sale in various CD stores. CD vendors do not assist in selling these software CDs.

If we sell a pirated Hindi picture or game CD, the sales volume of the local multimedia CD is extremely low compared to the amount of profit the vendors can make and we are not contributing to the sale. Many especially migrants do not find many multimedia CDs in many stores. The industry will evolve if there is a showroom in the city center plazas and information on all the local multimedia CDs and local software.

Thousands of PCs are being sold in our country but educational softwares are not selling. Many parents are buying computers for their sons and daughters spending fifty thousand taka, but they are not spending a few hundred taka to buy some educational multimedia CDs in the country. In this case, multimedia softwares are being left unfamiliar due to lack of awareness of the parents.

Domestic educational multimedia CDs are not going to be handled by low-income computer users, so there is no good education on the use of computers. Many parents buy computers and feel that their children are becoming proficient at computers. But the boys and girls do not care what they are doing, what they see. Buying a computer should not be the purpose of learning only computer programs.

English language learning, other learnings like geography, science, math education and many more are possible through computers. The government is giving thousands of computers to school colleges in the country. Buying quality multimedia software from almost all multimedia manufacturers can help in the development of this industry.

Lack of control is a major obstacle to getting access to the organization as a multimedia industry in this country. There is no quality control system in the two products being developed in this country. There is no public-private-monitoring system at the center. The consequences are dire. As the quality of the multimedia software industry is not being created because of this, the issue of copywriting is also not getting rid of any inconvenience.

The industry's precise market is destroying such things through the market as multimedia software. The price of domestic products is coming down to the buyer due to the lack of independent control and enforcement of copyright rights in quotas. At the same time, multimedia software traders have been held hostage by vendors.

Many entrepreneurs are turning away when they do not get the feedback they need from a product that costs a lot of labor and money. This whole cycle from this field is constantly killing the extreme potential of IT for economic development in this country. A centralized disciplinary control, whether public or private, is equally acceptable to all, so it can play a major role in preventing the recession of the multimedia industry in this country.

Many of the current useful books are available in digital format on CD. It is now widely used because of the much information available on the CD. Writing, pictures and words can be stored and displayed on the CD, so various movies are now available on CD. Also available on CDs are songs, directories, books, periodicals, computer applications, games, educational information. Large volumes like Encyclopedia are available in the market on a single CD. Therefore, many books can be used to buy CDs at very low prices without having to buy many books that occupy a lot of room.

At present, there are computers in many homes or in many establishments. But many do not know the English language, geography, science, etc. that can be learned by computer, and the multimedia CDs available for learning them are not in their collection.

Not knowing where to find such a CD, many are not able to collect it, even if interested. Many schools and colleges have computers. In those educational institutes, students perform computer typing, designing, playing games, watching videos, and creating programs with solid writing. But through this computer they do not know what they can learn interesting things.

Because these establishments do not have a multi-million computer computer, there are only a few hundred or thousands of educational multimedia CDs. In educational institutions, computers, CDs, DVDs and e-books can be kept.

Only a few commercially established institutions are able to make multimedia softwares in our country. In most cases, a single entrepreneur or a few together create multimedia software with a lot of hope. Because they are not commercially successful, many of them later find no other multimedia software.

If they were commercially successful, they would have spent more time and money in this sector, so when comparing countries and nations internationally, the quality of our domestic multimedia software is much lower, but there are many multimedia software CDs that are international standard. We have the technical skills, and creativity required to internationalize, but we do not want to be internationalized, despite the desire for economic problems due to infrastructure problems.

For example, many people use a simple microphone to record their sound by switching off the fan at midnight. It is not possible to record a sound in an audio studio without spending thousands of money. However, we have the knowledge of how to use the recorded sound in the program.

Arrangements for participation in trade fairs, Ekushey Book Fair, Kolkata Book Fair, display of our multimedia products made by the expatriates living abroad on various occasions and if arranged for sale through Bangladesh High Commission, on the one hand, the next generation of expatriates will know about our culture and heritage. The industry will also develop.


The writer is a columnist
and researcher