computer science

PlaceWare

PlaceWare is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand PlaceWare rather than just read about it. In short: PlaceWare was an American provider of web conferencing software, founded in 1996 by Xerox PARC researchers Pavel Curtis, Mike Dixon, and David Nichols as a spin-off from the research centre. The company developed software that allowed large numbers of participants to attend online presentations and meetings via a web browser, with a host controlling the shared content and audience members able to submit questions an…

Key takeaways

PlaceWare belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect PlaceWare to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of PlaceWare from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PlaceWare was an American provider of web conferencing software, founded in 1996 by Xerox PARC researchers Pavel Curtis, Mike Dixon, and David Nichols as a spin-off from the research centre. The company developed software that allowed large numbers of participants to attend online presentations and meetings via a web browser, with a host controlling the shared content and audience members able to submit questions and respond to polls. Microsoft acquired PlaceWare in April 2003 and renamed its core product Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Background PlaceWare's founders brought experience from Xerox PARC's research into virtual environments and online collaboration. Pavel Curtis, one of the co-founders, was previously known for creating LambdaMOO, an influential early multi-user virtual environment at PARC. The company's technology drew on this background in shared online spaces, applying it to the emerging market for internet-based business presentations and remote meetings. PlaceWare Auditorium, the company's first product, launched in March 1997. It supported large-scale online events with features for slide sharing, live audio, audience polling and Q&A. Early customers included Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Sun Microsystems and PBS.

Acquisition by Microsoft Microsoft completed its acquisition of PlaceWare in April 2003. Under Microsoft, the product was rebranded as Microsoft Office Live Meeting and integrated with the Microsoft Office suite. Live Meeting was subsequently superseded by Microsoft Lync and later Skype for Business, with online meeting functionality eventually incorporated into Microsoft Teams.

References

External links Microsoft's current Live Meeting product page

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with PlaceWare

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what PlaceWare claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to PlaceWare before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about PlaceWare ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of PlaceWare

In research: PlaceWare appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses PlaceWare in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: PlaceWare is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2003 mergers and acquisitions, Companies disestablished in 2003, Companies established in 1996, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for PlaceWare outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study PlaceWare in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what PlaceWare means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain PlaceWare out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is PlaceWare in simple terms?

Why does PlaceWare matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study PlaceWare?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on PlaceWare.