In today’s modern society, nearly everyone uses their computers for entertainment. There are lots of different online services that can be used to catch up on your entertainment which are normally available on your TV/Radio and podcasts. There are dozens of sites that allow you to be entertained online; the biggest one is probably YouTube.
Online TV
The most popular online entertainment catch up services are the services that allow you to catch up on national TV for example iPlayer, ITV Player and 4OD (4 On demand) there are also purely online services such as http://www.tvcatchup.com/ , which operates over your computer, iPhones, iPods, iPads and also games console. They host over 50 channels which consist of the most popular channels that are on TV.
Source: Slideshare.net iPlayer statistics 2010
It is a great advantage to be able to watch programs that you have missed online, because lets be honest nowadays nearly everyone has a PC/Laptop, and being able to catch up on programs you have missed online makes it much more easier. Channel 4, who run 4 on Demand were launched November 2006, have been growing ever since they started; on the 31st august 2011 4oD was relaunched, making the user experience so much better. It allowed users to create ‘My 4oD’ which allowed registered users to create playlists, save their favourite programmes, keep a record of what they have watched and schedule shows.
Not online do channel 4 have their own website to stream and watch shows, but on the 15th October 2009 the biggest online entertainment website YouTube signs a deal with Channel 4 which allows Channels 4 shows to be screened on YouTube. YouTube now has over 3,000 hours of Channels 4’s programmes archived on their site allowing anyone to watch it at anytime.
As you can see from these jaw dropping statistics, lots of people use YouTube for lots of different uses, the biggest use is probably entertainment value. There have been lots of funny videos that have been put on the site. YouTube also allows users to create and upload their own videos, of any sort! You can also integrate google adsense into your videos and earn some money of your own videos!
In my own experience watching TV online has been great, although I own a Sky+ box in my house which I can record things on, but if I forget to record something I can easily hop onto one of many different online websites and watch the show that I missed.
Advantages:
- You can catch up on almost every show online!
- Some videos can be very entertaining
- Free to watch
- Lots of different genres online
- If you make you own videos on youtube you can also earn some extra money
- You can watch videos in HD online, instead of standard SD if you don’t own a HD TV
Disadvantages:
- Legally you have to have a TV Licence to watch programs online
- May experience loading time/lagging issues due to slow internet connection
- Usually have to create a account to experience their full potential
iTunes & Spotify
iTunes is a great bit of software from apple, it allows you to download lots of different media items from it. These media items being music, podcasts, apps and films. Some items are free, some are not, for example podcasts, some apps and some remixes may be free whereas on the other hand you will be required to pay a small fee usually under £1 for music, and a fee for films usually under £5. Not only can you buy films, you can also rent films from iTunes, which allows you watch films for a fraction of the price. The rental system works by you first of all downloading the film, after that you have 30 days from the time of the rental to watch it, then 48 hours after you’ve started watching to finish it. Not only can you buy and rent all types of media on your PC, once you purchase something it will automatically get transferred to your apple product, whether it being iPod, iPhone or an iPad. In my opinion this is a great marketing feature to apple.
In my personal opinion iTunes is great and I use it everyday to sync music to my iPhone and iPods. I have also bought films via iTunes and I have been very impressed with the quality that I get.
Advantages:
- Massive range of downloads!
- All digital, so no more CDs piled up in the corner of your room
- Prices are usually better than in store because there is no packaging involved.
Disadvantages:
- Must always be connected to the Internet to access the store
- Have to make a special account which some people might not trust
Spotify
Spotify is a music streaming service, which offers music ranging from major and independent record, labels. Three people going by the name of Daniel EK, Martin Lorentzon and an Internet marketing company called TradeDoubler launched it in 2006. As of September 2010 the company reportedly had ten million users, and about 1 million of those users were actually paying for subscriptions. Spotify currently has three different membership accounts, first of all is the bog standard free one which just allows you to listen to tracks on your PC. Secondly you have the Spotify Unlimited membership, which at £4.99 is a great bargain if your are only going to listen to music on your PC and don’t want to buy songs, for £4.99 a month you will gain access to unlimited streaming of music and no advertisements within the music. Last but not least you get Spotify Premium, which is for the ultimate media user, at £9.99 it is great if you compare it to buying songs via iTunes, £9.99 a month will allow you to access all Spotify songs on your mobile, you can also play songs when your not connected to the internet which is a great bonus because if your on the move, you don’t have to be connected to the internet. Along with those features you also get no adverts and unlimited streaming. If you compare both uses you will find one that suits you best, if you like to have your music on your iPod or other apple peripheral then sure go ahead with iTunes, but if not go with Spotify.
In my personal experience, I used Spotify before I used iTunes. During my time with Spotify I found it great, I could create my own playlist and listen to songs whenever I want. And not have to pay!
Advantages:
- You can listen to anything without paying
- Very wide variety of music, including the old school classics
- Don’t have to be connected to the Internet!
Disadvantages:
- Have to create an account
- May get advertising in-between songs if not paying
Piracy
You wouldn't steal a car,
You wouldn't steal a handbag,
You wouldn't steal a television,
You wouldn't steal a movie.
Downloading pirated films is stealing,
stealing is against the law,
PIRACY IT'S A CRIME.
You wouldn't steal a handbag,
You wouldn't steal a television,
You wouldn't steal a movie.
Downloading pirated films is stealing,
stealing is against the law,
PIRACY IT'S A CRIME.
Those are the famous words for a TV ad that swept across the nation trying to increase awareness on piracy. Recently in the United Kingdom a students website which helped people watch films and television shows for free was merely operating in the same way as Google, a court has heard. Richard O’Dwyer from Sheffield is facing a extradition to the united states of copyright infringement, ultimately he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. His website was called TVShack, and the US authorities claims that the films accessed via TVShack were pirate copies. But his lawyer merely claimed that his site operates like Google and yahoo do, just linking to other sites, you were not able to watch a film from TVShack directly. The site ultimately generated all its income from advertising, the same way Google does.
In my personal opinion Richard O’Dwyer is right in what he is saying, but the moral of it is just not right, these actors, singers, directors and any one else involved in the production of something should get what they deserve.
Advantages:
- Getting things for free
Disadvantages:
- Could get caught
- Could end up in jail over a song costing 99 pence
- Not very clever
Online Gaming
Online gaming has been on rise every since the creation of Flash and Java, which led to simple basic online games. Not only can you play games just on your PC, you can now play online via a Console such as an Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Wii, you can connect with your friends over them and you can also get headsets which allow you to talk to your friends whilst you play. There are simple online games such as the classic 8-ball pool, Tetris and the classic racing game and then on the other hand you can get much more advanced ones which require a fee to play, such as World of warcraft and Final fantasy XI.
World of Warcraft was originally released November 2005, and nowadays it has over 10.3 million subscribers whom pay to play. It is currently the worlds most subscribed MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game) and also holds a Guinness World Record for the most popular MMORPG by subscribers. World of Warcraft allows your to create a personal character ‘avatar’ and allows you to fight various monsters, complete quests that you have been set, explore the landscape and most of all interact with other online players.
In my personal experience I have only ever played Console games, but that was still fun because I was enjoying a challenge whilst interacting with all my friends.
Advantages:
- Allow you to interact with other users
- Can make friends and meet new people
Disadvantages:
- Can end up being very costly
- Can get addicted
Online Gambling
There are lots of different ways to do gambling online; you can play online poker, go into casinos, place bets for sports, online bingo and horse race betting. The most popular one is probably online poker with the most popular type being Texas hold ‘em, which can end up being very addictive. There are sites that specialise is just online Texas hold ‘em poker such as partypoker.com which is the leader site for online poker. The website has a very large selection of different tournaments and different tables which you can navigate and find the right one for you.
According to pokerpages.com which hosts a list of top 100 poker millionaires, and the number 1 winner being Erik Seidel who has won approximately $17 million us dollars, which is a very large number for just poker!
In my personal experience I have never played online poker because I am to young, although I know people who have played it once or twice and won a fair bit of cash; but say they don’t want to risk it again.
Advantages:
- Something fun to do
- Meet new people
- Make some extra money
Disadvantages:
- Could get addicted
- Might loose a lot of money
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