Adaptable transfer and publication of digital media

Abstract

An adaptable method for facilitating user interaction with digital media objects. Representations of substantially-reduced data size of each of the digital media objects are transferred before the transfer of copies of the original data size of each of the digital media objects so as to enable earlier user interaction. The user interaction includes, for example, requesting modifications to the object. The method provides feedback of any requested action from the user interaction with the substantially-reduced data size representations and in response thereto, determines as a function of the requested action whether to reprioritize transfer of untransferred original data size copies of the corresponding digital media object. The method provides for modification of copies that are to be transferred according to modifications requested by the user with respect to the transferred substantially-reduced data size representations. The method can be used for audio, video, image, and other digital media objects.

1 . A method for facilitating user interaction with a plurality of digital media objects, comprising the steps of:
 receiving a request to transfer the digital media objects to a second computing device from a first computing device;   transferring representations of substantially-reduced data size of each of the digital media objects to the second computing device;   subsequently transferring copies of original data size of each of the digital media objects to the second computing device;   wherein each of the substantially-reduced data size representations and copies of original data size have a transfer priority, wherein the transfer priority of each of the substantially-reduced data size representations is higher than the corresponding transfer priority for each of the corresponding original data size copies;   publishing the transferred substantially-reduced data size representations so as to enable interaction therewith by a user through a user interface and so as to enable the user to selectively request that a modification be performed on one of the digital media objects by requesting that the modification be performed on the corresponding published substantially-reduced data size representation;   in response to the modification requested by the user, determining as a function of the requested modification whether to reprioritize transfer of any and all untransferred copies of the corresponding digital media objects; and   wherein a unique identifier is associated with each digital media object and the corresponding substantially-reduced data size representation and original data size copy.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transferring between the first computing device and the second computing device is via a wireless protocol. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifiers are generated at the second computing device and sent to the first computing device from the second computing device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the unique identifiers for the digital media objects are generated at the first device and transferred along with the corresponding substantially-reduced data size representation and original data size copy. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising after transferring representations of substantially-reduced data size of each of the digital media objects to a second computing device;
 subsequently transferring other representations of each of the digital media objects to the second computing device, wherein the other representations have a data size between the substantially-reduced data size representation and the copies of original data size;   wherein the unique identifier for the corresponding digital media object is associated with each of the corresponding other representations.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the other representations each have a larger data size than the corresponding substantially-reduced data size representation. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein one of the other representations comprises identifying information for the digital media object. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of the substantially-reduced data size representations comprises identifying information for the digital media object; wherein the identifying information enables the user to request the modification based only on the identifying information. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user interaction includes viewing the published digital media object. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the untransferred copies are not transferred if the requested modification modifies the corresponding substantially-reduced data size representation so as to indicate that transfer of the untransferred copies of the corresponding digital media objects is not required. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the requested modification is deletion. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein if executing the requested modification requires publishing an untransferred copy of the corresponding digital media object, prioritizing transfer of the untransferred copy such that the untransferred copy is transferred before other untransferred representations and copies. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the number of other representations for each digital media object is three. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital media objects include image content. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital media objects include video content. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the digital media objects include audio content. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the digital media objects include image content and wherein the substantially-reduced data size representations are thumbnails. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein only a predetermined number of the other representations are stored on the first computing device. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is on a third computing device. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is provided on the first computing device. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface is provided on a webpage accessible via a browser. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the request to transfer originates from another user at the first computing device and wherein the user is authorized by the another user so as to enable the user to cause actions to be taken on the published representations and copies of original data size of the corresponding digital media objects. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method enables reprioritization of the transfer of untransferred representations and copies of a digital media object in response to a predetermined modification of the digital media object on the first computing device. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method enables reprioritizing of the transfer of untransferred representations and copies of a particular digital media object as a function of demands for the particular published digital media object received at the second computing device. 
     
     
         25 . A method for facilitating user interaction with a plurality of digital media objects, comprising the steps of:
 receiving a request to transfer the digital media objects to a second computing device from a first computing device;   storing representations of substantially-reduced data size of each of the digital media objects in a first queue;   subsequently transferring representations from the first queue to a second computing device;   storing copies of original data size of each of the digital media objects in a second queue;   subsequently transferring copies from the second queue to the second computing device;   publishing the transferred substantially-reduced data size representations so as to enable interaction therewith by a user through a user interface and so as to enable the user to selectively request that a modification be performed on one of the digital media objects by requesting that the modification be performed on the corresponding published substantially-reduced data size representation;   wherein the first queue and second queue enable reordering priority of transfer from the first and second queues such that the priority of any representations and copies stored therein can be changed, and wherein the first queue and second queue enable removal of representations and copies stored therein;   in response to the modification requested by the user, determining as a function of the requested modification whether to reprioritize transfer of any and all untransferred copies of the corresponding digital media objects from the corresponding queue; and   wherein a unique identifier is associated with each digital media object and the corresponding substantially-reduced data size representation and original data size copy.   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising the steps of:
 generating representations of substantially-reduced data size of each of the digital media objects; and   generating copies of original data size of each of the digital media objects.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the identifying information is text. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the substantially-reduced data size representation comprises one or more stillframes of the corresponding digital media object. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein separate queues are associated with each category and wherein the other representations are stored in the corresponding separate queue. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the modification is at least one from the group consisting of deletion, rotation, placement into a collection, and copying.