Entertainment has been at the forefront of technology. It can easily be argued technology has been at the forefront of entertainment. The emergence of the electric guitar in bands from the fifties, televisions becoming part of the home and early radio, all pioneered entertainment and its co-habitation with technology.
The electronic keyboards, TV shows broadcast in colour, digital radios and the CD: all have a place in our culture, let alone our hearts. Television pushed on to become colour and high-definition, radio became hi-fidelity.
Then we can stream right off the internet and listen on our Google Home speaker or an Amazon Echo. Gaming just went from Space Invaders to Grand Theft Auto and the latest virtually realistic Days Gone or Far Cry New Dawn, all with mind-boggling graphics.
Home Entertainment Systems
It was not that long ago when we had home technology that provided the very basic channels and even less in the way of choice. Satellite and cable television services allowed access to several more channels. But we have suffered an immense drop in quality as a result.
Subscription channels have helped increase the quality of programming and smart TV sets now allow us to do more than just watch the box. We can play our X-Box, PS4 or browse the net and do this all through the television.
If we add high speed broadband to the mix, it means we can watch films and episodes of our favourite old television shows through YouTube and directly onto our HD (or 4K UHD) TV screen. In a way, this is good to get the whole family to engage on something entertaining online – instead of each family member tied up with their individual smartphones and lost within the social moment.
Music
The way we listen to music has altered beyond all recognition. When vinyl gave way to the cassette, CD, DAT, iPod and eventually the streaming apps it created so much choice in the format of listening options.
Reading
Reading books and magazines may never go out of fashion and we might have struggled to get used to Kindles. But, ask yourself when you last went out to buy a newspaper. Reading the news online and finding out information from the net is the go-to solution, if we should wish to know something right this minute.
It is still a hard fact to grasp that salesmen would regularly knock on doors trying to sell a full set of encyclopaedias to information-hungry householders. Now it would be like trying to sell sand to a desert nomad or ice to an Eskimo.
Other forms of entertainment have included the ability to gamble, play poker or buy lottery tickets online on sites like RedFoxLotto.com. It is now possible to play the Australian lotto (and many other national international lottery draws) from the other side of the world where the balls are picked. Moreover, winnings are paid instantly and checking the result is performed in minutes after the draw. Now that’s what we might call entertainment.
