Chapter 2: ISDN Helps People Work Together

Photo Retrieval

While a growing number of stock photos are being offered on CD-ROM, many time-dependent photos - especially news and sports images - are today being offered through the dialed connections of ISDN.

The photo department of Business Week magazine in New York City, for example, is beginning to use ISDN to view, access and retrieve high-quality photos from around the world - from manufacturers, marketers, advertising and public relations agencies, and photo services in the United States and Europe. Michael Hirsch, the publication's picture researcher, says that the higher speeds of ISDN will enable the magazine to greatly extend its reach to a broad range of new sources.

A typical supplier of up-to-the-minute photographic images is Allsport, in Santa Monica, CA. The company specializes in high-quality full-color coverage of sporting events around the world, and currently has more than 100,000 images available on-line, with thousands of new images added each month.

Through ISDN connections, editors can view thumbnail-sized pictures, call up full-screen views of selected images, and even try out various zooms and croppings. They can also place orders, and have high-resolution
According to the firm's president, Steve Powell, it is relatively easy to use dialed ISDN (or Switched 56) connections to conduct detailed thematic searches, since all images are not only electronically stored but systematically cataloged.