Streaming Media, both audio and video, is part of the  revolution which is changing the way the internet is used.  Streaming technologies along with a move to separate content from structure and the growing interest in sites  which allow their users to collectively define their content, such as Wikipedia are part of the group of technologies known as Web 2.0.

What is Streaming Media?

Streaming media is any media file (audio of video) which is passed from a server to your browser in a continuous stream for immediate playing rather than as a large download which you must wait to watch or listen to.  Streaming media has the advantage that it starts almost immediately, after a small portion of the file has been buffered to ensure smooth playback, and can be used to provide an almost live webcast of an event.

What is Web 2.0?

This video, hosted on youtube, explains Web 2.0 very nicely and is also a good example of streaming video: