Adaptive media messaging, such as for rich media messages incorporating digital content

1. An article comprising:

a storage medium; and

instructions stored in the storage medium, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to generate and transmit one or more messages to a receiving computer system, the one or more messages including

a media message to be displayed on the receiving computer system as a first layer of an adaptive media message, the media message including a link;

logic configured to execute on the receiving computer system to cause the receiving computer system to test digital content capabilities of the receiving computer system when the link is dereferenced; and

logic configured to display a selected one of a plurality of versions of digital content selected based on the results of testing digital content capabilities of the receiving computer system, such that the receiving computer system may display the selected version of the digital content in the media message as a second layer of the adaptive media message as a substitute for one or more elements of media content contained in the first layer of the adaptive media message, the one or more elements of media content contained in the first layer being displayed on the receiving computer system prior to display of the selected version.

2. The article of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more messages such that the logic is directly contained in the one or more messages.

3. The article of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more messages such that the logic is included in the one or more messages by reference.

4. The article of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more messages such that the selected one of the plurality of versions of the digital content is not directly included in the media message as first transmitted to the receiving computer system, but is separately transferred under the control of the logic configured to display.

5. The article of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more messages such that the selected one of the plurality of versions of the digital content is downloaded by the logic configured to display, and is downloaded in a form customized for an addressee of the message.

6. A method in a computing system for presenting an adaptive message, comprising:

receiving, by the computing system, a message in the computing system including a link;

displaying, by the computing system, the message as a first layer of an adaptive media message;

based on the contents of the received message:

testing, by the computing system executing logic in the message when the link is dereferenced, two or more digital content capabilities of the computing system;

selecting, by the computing system, one of a plurality of different digital content elements based upon the results of the testing; and

presenting, by the computing system, the selected one of the plurality of different digital content elements within the message as a second layer of the adaptive media message as a substitute for one or more elements of media content contained in the first layer of the adaptive media message, the one or more elements of media content contained in the first layer being displayed on the receiving computer system prior to display of the selected version.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the plurality of different digital content elements includes a high-quality video sequence and a low-quality video sequence.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the plurality of different digital content elements includes a video sequence and an animation sequence.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the plurality of different digital content elements includes a first digital content element constructed for playing on a first player and a second digital content element constructed for playing on a second player different from the first player.

10. The method of claim 6 wherein the selected one of the different digital content elements is selected based upon actions of a user of the computer system in connection with the received message.

11. An article comprising:

a storage medium; and

instructions stored in the storage medium, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to generate and transmit one or more messages to a receiving computer system, the one or more messages including:

a media message to be displayed on the receiving computer system as a first layer of an adaptive media message, the media message including a link;

logic configured to execute on the receiving computer system to cause the receiving computer system to test capabilities of the receiving computer system when the link is dereferenced; and

logic for displaying a selected one of a plurality of versions of media content selected based on the results of testing capabilities of the receiving computer system, such that the receiving computer system may display the selected one of the plurality of versions of the media content in the media message as a second layer of the adaptive media message as a substitute for one or more elements of media content contained in the first layer of the adaptive media message, the one or more elements of media content contained in the first layer being displayed on the receiving computer system prior to of the selected version.

12. The article of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more messages such that the logic for testing digital content capabilities of the receiving computer system includes a script to be executed by the receiving computer system to test said digital content capabilities.

13. The article of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more messages such that the logic for testing and the logic for displaying are appended to the media message.

14. The article of claim 11 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more messages such that the media message further includes:

a replaceable section to be replaced by a replacing section including the selected one of the plurality of versions of media content.

15. The article of claim 14 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, generate the one or more messages such that the logic for displaying includes a replace script to replace the replaceable section of the media message with the replacing section.