Packer studied music composition at the California Institute of the Arts (MFA) and at the University of California, Berkeley (PhD). He pursued post-graduate study in computer music in Paris, where he was a composer in residence at IRCAM (Institute for the Research and Coordination of Acoustics), Centres Georges Pompidou. In 2001, after over ten years of research into the history, theory, and practice of multimedia, his book, Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality, co-authored with Ken Jordan, was published by W.W. Norton with a companion Website sponsored by Intel.