How Technology Improves Entertainment

Technology has allowed us to access many new forms of entertainment. People used to have to go to cinemas to watch films. To see sports, they had to be there in person. They also had to go to theatres for live shows. Nowadays, people can watch films, sports and live shows on TV and on their computers. They can play games on consoles such as Wiis, Xboxes, Playstations, and on computers.

Magic 105.4      The internet allows us to listen to live radio whenever we want using streaming technology. I often listen to Magic 105.4  on my computer so I can listen to "Magic's Mystery Voices". I can listen to the radio on my computer even when I'm using it for other things.



Source: Vellas, Andy planetrockradio
(wikimedia commons)

 There are many advantages to internet radio. It gives a wide range of radio stations to choose from. You can listen to radio stations at a very high quality from elsewhere in Britain such as Kerrang (based in Birmingham) or even another country such as the U.S.A. You can check the sports news even when you're abroad. Digital radio has allowed this. There are some new radio stations which are digital only such as Planet Rock. However, at peak internet times, the processes are slowed down and the reception is interrupted. Buffering can be a problem at these times and during a solar storm.

Some radio stations now also have websites. You can check their schedule, their playlist to find details about music you may have heard and competitions as well as listening live. Some radio webpages have links to iTunes so you can buy the tracks that you have heard. I love to check the list of wrong answers on www.magic.co.uk/mmv and what they recently played. 

Gaming has become really popular on electronic devices since Space Invaders came out in 1978. Multi-user Dungeon games were played 20 years before the world-wide web was invented, but the internet has made these games more widespread. Multi-player games, such as World of Warcraft have become really popular. There are networked multi-player gaming sites such as www.omgpop.com which includes sports, board and card games as well as video games. Football games can be played on home consoles where people can team up or play against each other. My uncle works for a company that writes software for online gambling sites. You can play card games such as poker against someone who lives anywhere in the world. I love playing games on www.coolmath-games.com.

BBC has an iPlayer where you can watch BBC programs on their website if you missed them. www.youtube.com is a website where you can watch videos. I enjoy watching individual clips from episodes of TV programmes such as Room 101. I often watch funny videos on YouTube. I have also used YouTube to watch revision clips. However, long videos use up a lot of broadband and buffering can be a problem during peak times.

Overall, technology has improved entertainment providing a lot more than before. New businesses have developed such as Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony which make a profit from electronic entertainment. Gaming has changed people's lives because people can enjoy playing video games. It can speed up your thought processes. It would be better if compatibility patches were installed on some games so they can run better on newer systems. However, some people become addicted and can't get off. This can be a major problem which has been reported is newspapers such as the daily mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2211710/Sign-times--Internet-addiction-added-list-mental-disorders-following-alarming-rise-children-log-off.html. According to Yahoo's today in technology blog of January 20th 2012, "Participants who were found to be "addicted" to the internet had significant differences in brain development than those who were not."