What is "streaming"?

What is "streaming"?

Ethan Feerst and Dylan Stewart (Technology Therapist, Mac Guru) gives expert video advice on: Is it legal to download copyrighted media via the Internet?; How does file sharing work?; Can I watch my favorite TV shows over the Internet? and more...

Streaming is the act of, well to understand what streaming is you kind of have to understand what something that's not streaming is. Something that's not streaming is waiting for you to access it, waiting for you to download it and start the connection to start playing. Whether it's video or whether it's music, you click on that link and it plays that static file. A streaming file is one that is constantly playing, constantly ready for you to tap into. A streaming radio station, for example, if you tap into, you won't start at the beginning of a song, it would be just like turning on your normal radio station and coming in in the middle. Streaming video is often ready to play at the beginning for you, but always active on the internet. This is done so that it takes up less storage space and is more easily played in a quicker format even with a lower speed connection.