Online Entertainment

Online entertainment is an online service that has taken over many of our lives. We can spend hours a day on entertainment online, the online world has taken off from entertainment. Everything we see, read and watch online influences the way we live our daily lives, we now prefer to stay at home and watch a movie than go to the cinema or talk to our friends over the internet than to actually meet them. Entertainment has changed as it is now accessible without having to leave your comfortable couch, you can now watch a concert and be at the cinema in the comfort of your home. 

Social Media

Social media has increasingly become a type of entertainment for many. We can spend endless hours going through our newsfeeds on Facebook or following our favourite celebrities every move on Twitter. The fact that we spend so much time on the social media sites makes it a type of entertainment for the younger generations as instead of going out and doing things they would rather spend time on things like Tumblr to post endless pictures and watch the latest trending vines.

YouTube

YouTube has escalated in popularity in the past few years, people are new able to live comfortably and travel the world by uploading videos of themselves. YouTube is used for many people’s entertainment, there are videos for the best makeup looks to the wackiest animals and t

hese videos can easily take up a person’s day as one video leads to another. YouTube has been used make entertainment a free and accessible thing to be watch or listen to. Many music artists have account on YouTube where they post their music videos and people can freely watch the videos without having to pay for the music. Anybody can upload videos to YouTube, many become famous from it and the videos on YouTube appeal to such a wide range of people that there’s everything for everyone. YouTube is one of the biggest entertainment sites with new videos being uploaded every second, there is such a range that you can’t really ever get bored on YouTube and that’s what makes it so successfully entertaining.

Games online

Games online have also become greatly popular especially among teenagers. The games are usually easily downloadable onto your phone, PC and console they can be played wherever whenever. An example of how games are such a big part of online Entertainment is when Flap

py Bird first came out, the game went viral and everybody wanted to download it. It became obsessive for many and the creator had made millions within days. There are also many websites online that are purely for games, you are able to play a range of games, you can spend hours being entertained by simple yet obsessive games. You can also play games that are purely online so you sign in and can chat with other people or interact with other players of the game, an example of this is Club Penguin which is used worldwide. The game allows you to be a penguin and to interact with other plays whilst making your rankings better and playing with your friends online. Another game that has entertained many is Sims, it is downloadable and new packs to go with the game are always coming out and there are always new additions, this game can take up many hours as you play with your virtual family. Another type of online gaming is gaming on consoles such as Xbox, instead of people going out to play football now they are able to play virtual football on games like Fifa, and can fight on the front line with games like Battlefield. Consoles have heaps of entertainment with new games coming out nearly every week, they have endless hours of stories to follow and challenge’s to complete.

Movies and TV online

Another type of entertainment online is movies and TV online. There are now many sites that allow you to watch movies or television series online, so instead of having to record TV shows you may miss you can easily watch them on websites like the BBC iPlayer which you can use on your laptop, tablets and phones. So TV has become extremely more accessible and is used as a source of entertainment greater than before, now people don’t even need a TV to be able to watch TV programmes. There are also websites now that allow you to watch a range of films from classics to the newest movie for a fixed rate a month such as Netflix. Netflix update their movie selection often and provide a 24/7 access for users to watch movies whenever they like.

E-Books

E-Books quickly spiralled and out ran their paperback competitors; reading is an extremely common type of entertainment with most managing to read a book in their free time or when they go on holiday. The E-book allows people to do this without having to store the books away on shelves or having to carry a heavy book in their bags. They are simply downloadable and lead to hours of entertainment. There are also apps that allow people to write their own books and for others to read them such as wattpad where you can publish chapters and people can read them on their phone apps or computers, this is another easy access online entertainment.

Scopes of Online Entertainment

• Online entertainment can be used anywhere
• If you want to watch TV series, it allows you to do so without having to pay for the TV channels
• It is extremely accessible, you do not have to travel o the cinema to watch a film you can access them at home.

Limitations of Online Entertainment

• They can be used to waste time reducing productivity
• They require the internet to download or use
• Many are obsessive
• Can make many anti-social if too much time is spent online 

My experience with Online Entertainment

I use online entertainment often. Me and my friends use Netflix to watch the latest blockbusters and to save ourselves a little money! I also catch up with many of my favorite TV dramas on things like 4oD and ITV Player, it saves me having to worry about what time the programmes are on to go and watch them, instead I can carry on with work and catch up on them when I have time. I also use YouTube pretty much every day, I watch my favourite YouTuber’s vlogs and just random funny videos this can often take up a lot of my time as imp so engrossed in the videos that I lose track of time. I don’t really do any type of online gaming but sometimes I will download a gaming app to pass a bit of time if I’m waiting for something or am bored but they will quickly be deleted. I also use wattpad to read people’s stories as I find the raw kind of books are better and some of them are funny to read. 

Download Services

Download services are now an extremely common use of Online Services, instead of having to commute to a shop to buy your DVD or music CD you are now able to use software like iTunes which allow you to download music and movies wherever you are providing you have an internet connection. This allows you to watch the movies or listen to the music wherever you are and when you want to after they are downloaded. Many people now do not even record TV shows they have missed before but download them onto their tablets and watch them on their commute to work or in their free time. The use of downloading software has made the online services more accessible and widely used.

Advances in Technology

Download services have been made possible due to the advance in technology with broadband you are now able to download things and keep them, they are not temporary downloads and stay on your device after you have downloaded them. No longer do we have to go to the shop to buy books, games, music or even DVD’s but we can just download them at home and access them whenever we want.

Software has also become increasingly downloadable, you are now able to download things like Microsoft Word online instead of having to buy the disc in a store and download the software off of the disc. You can also do the same with things like protection software such as Norton which allow you to buy the software over the internet and download it within minutes and use it instantly.

SAT-NAV have also progressed with download services as the maps are updated using software, for example when they are building new roads or there have be

en new speed cameras have been put into place you just plug your SAT-NAV into your computer and the updates will automatically  start downloading. They can often take some time as if you have an international SAT-NAV they update all the road services in the region you acquire. For example before we travel to France each year we have to update the maps in France as they are quite often updating road systems etc.

Another example in the advance of technology is the idea that you are now able to download a book onto your device without having the physical book. This great discovery has made reading a book more of an accessible thing to do, Amazon made the Kindle where you could directly download books from their online website and they would instantly pop up in your library. So instead of buying a book you are buying a downloadable book that takes up no room and is easily kept or deleted.

Furthermore advances in downloadable software have now meant that we can download games that we are able to use wherever we are. We do not need a console or disc to play the games but can simply use our phones, tablets or PC’s. The games are downloaded via App stores or websites like Steam. These websites allow you to buy games and download them instantly or download games for free; they are accessible at any time and have produced a great market for a new way of making profit in gaming by making the Apps. The games are also updated on regular basis and they quite often do it automatically, so when a new education to the game comes out you do not need a new disc, it just downloads providing you have an internet connection. 

Automatic Downloads

Download services also have a mind of their own, such as with Windows, they detect when you are closing down your computer and begin to automatically update the software that is already on your device. This makes them extremely efficient pieces of software as you do not have to control them but they do everything themselves. Adobe is another type of software that updates itself is Adobe who behind the scenes of your computer downloads things that you may not want. It is also sometimes very difficult to find the field that Adobe has downloaded so for some software that has a mind of its own is a worrying advance in technology.

Another example is when iTunes automatically downloaded the U2 album onto users of the Apple products devices; however this was only if their devices were directly synced to their iTunes account. Many became angry with the Apple Company and felt rather violated that they could access their accounts and download software on their devices without having any control. 

How have download services affected us?

Download services have affected many things, firstly when you go to buy a new laptop or tablet in 2014 you will most likely find that it will not have a CD/DVD drive and you will most definitely find that the tablets will not either. This has affected many business’s that thrive on sales of CD’s and DVD’s to make their profit, due to the great advance in downloadable software and services business’s have suffered. Such as HMV, they went into administration due to a lack of sales and profit as less and less people are using CD’s to listen to music or DVD’s to watch movies. Download services have also affected the music industry, less and less music artists are bringing out CD’s anymore and most release their downloadable albums first, also illegal downloading of music is becoming increasingly accessible and easy to do. Finally book shops and libraries have suffered due to sales of E-Books over running the sales of paper books, lots of book shops are beginning to go out of business and have to shut down. Although advances in technology are great they also come with consequences.

Scopes of Download Services:

• They are accessible for most people
• They allow you to freely watch movies and listen to music wherever you are
• They can easily be deleted or removed without you have to physical dispose of something

Limitations of Download Services:

• They often have a mind of their own and can take up a lot of space
• They are affecting businesses that thrive in sales of music, games, movies etc.
• Quality is often diminished when you download music

My experience with download services

I used download services for very few things. The Microsoft that I use on my laptop was all downloaded via the internet as it was cheaper and a lot quicker for me to do. I’ve never downloaded a movie; I prefer having the physical DVD as accidental deleting is something I tend to do! I rarely download music but instead use YouTube, and haven’t brought a CD in what feels like years possibly as I don’t own a CD player anymore! However I do have a kindle and I download books occasionally, I also download games on my phone every so often but I’m not a regular down-loader  I sometimes worry about what I am downloading onto my laptop or phone as they may not be the real thing etc, and I really do not like how they automatically download updates as sometimes windows will shut down my laptop without giving me a warning.

E-Government

What is E-Government?

E- Government is a commonly used type of an Online Service; E-government is the interaction between a citizen and their government, between governments and government agencies and between government and businesses. Before E-Government citizens would normally only interact with the government when electing a new prime minister, this would be the only chance they had to have a part in the decisions made in parliament. Most interaction would also be in paper work form and in arranged meetings, taking up a lot of people’s time and costing the government a lot of money to maintain their services.

Types of E-Government: 

The most common way that the average citizen now interacts with the government through E-Government would be being able to pay for all of their taxes online instead of having to go to the post office etc. Quite recently the way that we pay for road tax has changed, until now people would have to display a tax disc which would be proof to the police that they have paid for their road tax if they are stopped. Now you pay for your road tax online, and the police can see if you have paid for your tax electronically before you are even stopped, making it more of an efficient system for the police and stopping people from getting out of paying their taxes.

Another way we can connect with the government through E-government is your own town council website. On these websites you can do various things, such as:  looking for jobs, benefit information and the taxes that you have to pay. You are also able to pay your taxes over your town council’s website. You are also now able to make a vote online, the reason for this was to increase the voter turnout by making voting easy, so a wider range of people voted.

The government have used their internet communication to make their administration more efficient and easier for people to use. They have firstly used it to cut the costs of their output, like sending letters, leaflets etc. It has also meant that they now have more time, as they do not have to print out letters and prepare them to be sent out. They also use the internet to improve their online services allowing them to control and record their performances and improve communication directly with citizens and to business’s.

 The government also uses the internet to communicate with the public and to listen to problems people may have and possibly make a change. They use the internet to make the relationship between the government and the people more personal and give the people more of a voice in parliament and with the current issues. The government have created a website (http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/) where citizens are able to post petitions to attract people to sign them and get involved with their campaigns, they need 500,000 people to sign their petition in the time it is open, for it to get recognised by the government. If enough people sign the petition the government have to consider an action that they could do. However around election time, the E-Petitions are closed so that Parliament can prepare for elections. Political parties also have their own websites on which they talk about the type of work they do, what they believe in and why you should vote for them. The government has also set up websites to help those looking for jobs and are interested in getting more qualifications or finding out about their taxes and benefits they may be liable for.

The Government is also working to connect with businesses allowing them to license their businesses online, with no paper work. They just have to fill in a form which requires them to give the government their financial status and to give them all the legal requirements that they need. They will have to pay a fee, but they do not have to post any information to the head office and are able to do it all electronically.

Another feature of E-Government is the crime maps which allow you to search for your area and see what type of crime has been committed near you. This is a great way for the government to connect with the people and give them more added protection, security and information . It can help people decide the location they wish to live in and can help people to be aware of where they are living. The maps have a key and they people looking at the maps can see the types of crimes in their area. 

Scopes of E-Government

• It is more convenient for users; it is a lot easier for a person to pay their taxes or to see if they are liable for benefits by sitting at their computer than having to go to an appointment to wait in line for someone to deal with your case.

• Cutting costs for the government as they do not have to rent offices or build new ones to allocate those who will deal with the cases, they also do not have to employ so many people thus a virtual agency is cheaper for them.

• Greater transparency of the service provided by the government.

Limitations of E-Government

• Some people may not like to pay their bills online or deal with taxes over the internet and may prefer doing it in person so no mistakes can be made

• Some may not know how to use the online services and may not trust them.

• Websites are still liable to hackers putting people’s personal information at risk despite their efforts to protect users.

• Less developed countries do not have enough money to invest in online Government; Internet is also required which can limit the amount of users.

 My Experience with E-Government

Due to my age I have had hardly any experience with E-Government, however I have used the E-Petition website to sign petitions I feel passionate about and support, I strongly believe in the public having a voice in the government and the website allows people to do this. Furthermore my parents have a lot of interaction with E-Government as they pay their taxes online and often look at what is going on in the local council via the internet. I think it is a very efficient way to connect with the government and saves the average citizen lots of time. 

Online Education

Another online service, more commonly used now, is online Education. Now from the age of 5 when our schooling life starts we spend at least an hour a week on a computer during school. We learn to type efficiently and use the web productively. There are many websites that are made purely for the education of young people whether it be past papers or games to stimulate the mathematical mind, there seems to be more of a selection of sources on the internet than in the local library.

Online Education for the Students

 

BBC Bitesize

There are many websites and apps for students to use online to help them with their school work. A prime example of this is BBC’s Bitesize, they have a range of educational games and videos to help with students from KS1 to GCSE. They have put together help for the different educations systems criteria in the UK, with sub sections for Englan

d, Northern Island, Scotland and Wales. There are also practice tests and questions to answer throughout the activities.

However there are a few limitations, BBC Bitesize have no conne

ction with any of the exam boards, so the practice questions and tests for activities are often very unlike the ones you get into exams, although the practice is useful it is often not relevant.

 Sam Learning

Another example of a website that  is used to help educate students in a more interactive way is Sam learning, they have nearly everything a student could need and they also have the criteria and practice questions provided by exam boards. Sam learning in schools also becomes a type of competition as you are competing against your peers to get the most points. This motivates people to do more work.  

Slide Share & Student Rooms

There also revision sources for students and places for them to interact with teachers or other students to help them for their exams. An example of this would be Slide Share which is where teachers can post the PowerPoints that they did for the lessons. This means that you can look back on lessons and get the key notes. Another example would be Student Room which is where students can ask each other questions and other students help to answer them, this is a great source for students before they sit exams and if they need a little bit of extra help they may find this help in other students.

YouTube

Additional to this lots of students use YouTube, this is where students can watch tutorials or teachers explaining concepts of the subject. There are a

lot of revision sources such as the My GCSE Science channel which a teacher went through each section in the AQA science books. He used examples and links each section to a real life scenario making it more understandable.

 A more recent feature of online Education would be being able to take online degrees and tests that go towards a qualification, it allows you to research and do your work in the comfort of your own home. It also means they can work on their degrees in a more flexible way; they do not have to commute to a university but can instead even keep an existing job and stay at home. 

Online Education for the Teacher

There also websites for teachers to use to help in their lessons. For example there are activities for the teacher to do with the students and different ways to teach eh subjects to make them more interesting. There are things like team building activities to stimulate the peer’s communication skills.

Exam boards also offer help with the teachers teaching style of the sections in the specification and they also offer mark schemes and practice exam papers for them to give to the students in preparation for their exams.

There also websites like socrative that allow the student and the teacher to interact with each other so that they can ask and answer questions digitally. Students can also vote and choose an option.

Teachers also submit a lot of students work online, for example when you do coursework it often is sent online to the examiner. This is a more convenient and efficient way for an examiner to mark the work.

Scopes of Online Education

•       You are able to do school work nearly everywhere
•        You are able to access articles and media that may contribute to your understanding
•          Many online websites help to keep track of your progress in your subjects
•          Online education also helps you instantly get hold of a wider range of information instantly.

Limitations of Online Education

•          Children and students may become too dependant on the internet that they may lack literacy skills
•          Library’s are used less so may begin to close down
•          Children become reliant on the internet for research that they do not know how to use books or newspapers to find out information.
•          The classroom and teaching becomes more reliant on technology rather than physical interaction and text book use 

My own experience with Online Education

I use Online Education on a daily basis. When I was in primary school we would use online education to learn how to type and we would do activities to test our abilities to gather information online. Secondary school was a big step up in the amount of Online Education that I used, we had ICT lessons and in maths we would use things like MyMaths  to do interactive maths. We would also use Sam Learning in things like Spanish where we would have to memorise our writing and practice our grammar. I use Online Education in my own time outside of my lessons, for research on my subjects and for revision. I use Slideshare often because it has teachers lesson notes which I can easily use as revision notes. I also used YouTube for the majority of the GCSE Science revision that I did, as a teacher had produced videos in which he showed each topic and step-by-step  instructions for calculation's.

 

 

Online Banking

A little history on Banking:

Online Banking is another Online Service more commonly used now. Banks are where people take their money and trust it to be stored safely, whilst the money was in the bank the bank itself could use it to invest and trade therefore tying to make themselves more money. Overtime cash was replaced with cheques and people would go to the banks with their cheques which would be paid into the bank and would be treated like a note. However money doesn't exactly exist in a sense, gold and oil is the currency as they are what we perceive as most valuable and we use those to make our money as they are tradable.

                                                                                                           

How online Banking works:

When you get paid every month your employer sends the data of the hours you have worked and the money you have earn to the bank, they do not physically send the money to the bank as what you earn is just a figure of numbers, there is not a physical amount of your money sitting in the bank. Your employer sends money to the clearing house which gets distributed to various different banks and directly ends up in your bank. Money is now increasingly in data and not actually in physical form.

Security of Online Banking:

Online banking has struggled to make a big impact at first because people didn’t trust the online world to take care of their money. Many thought that the bank could view all their private information and that others could do so too. However they have introduced over the years ways to protect the customer from experiencing any of these problems, they have recently introduced what is known as a card reader, so before you can enter your account online you have to enter your pin in the card reader and it will generate a random number that you enter and this allows you to have access to your online statements and accounts. There are also various passwords you need and they are often extremely cautious on updating you on changes to the website to be sure that you do not get scammed.

The effects Online Banking has to the high street:

Banks do not really have a lot of money in them, however the money and gold is usually stored in the central banks. Due to this high street banks are becoming increasingly less important so they are closing down as they are not needed to store small amounts of money in any more.

Purely Online Banks:

There are few banks that are purely online, many people however choose to keep their money purely online this is for several reasons. Firstly it is more of a convenient way of banking and means you can pay bills online and it also means you would not have to change banks if you decided to relocate. Also they include free services such as 100% free checking. Bank costs are a lot lower if the bank only needs to pay for a single online network, this means they have more money and this can benefit the customer in various ways such as no fees or higher interests.

An example of a purely online bank is First Direct, they are extremely convenient because they allow you to sign up online and use all of the normal bank features online wherever you are. Another online bank, formerly known as Egg struggled being purely online, its credit card business was sold to Barclaycard and the business itself is now owned by Yorkshire building society.

Scopes of Online Banking for the Customer:

Online banking allows you to deal with your money directly without having to go to your bank; you are able to see the money that is in your account wherever you are and are also able to see your statements to track your spending. Online banking also means you can transfer your money to different accounts you may have or to other peoples account, all you need to know is their banks details. Online banking has meant now that you can pay your bills monthly quickly online and can make payments online without having to leave your home or give away any private information.

Scopes of Online Banking for the Business:

Banks find it a lot cheaper to work online, this stops them from having to have a physical bank where they have to employ people and rent a building. Instead they employ people who are highly qualified and work on the online side of the bank which is much more effective.

Limitations of Online Banking for the Customer:

Online banking does have some drawbacks; many people receive the Phishing email, which is when a person sends an email pretending to be your bank. They request you to send them your sensitive information such as your username, password, and credit card details. They sometimes even ask you to send them money directly or to certain bank details.

Limitations of Online Banking for the business:

There are not really any drawbacks for an Online banking business; however one limitation would be the customer service system. Some people prefer being able to physically see a person when they are talking to them and many people also prefer to be able to see physical paper with their details and bank statements rather than electronically. Some feel a lot safer when they can go to a physical bank and can imagine their money being there and the physical person dealing with their money. As a business this would mean less people may choose to use them, resulting in less loyalty and fewer word of mouth.

My own experience with Online Banking:

I use Online banking for 99% of the banking I do, I recently got a job and had to choose which bank I would prefer to keep my money with and I researched this by using their Online Banking websites. I use online banking to check my accounts, I was given a card reader where I enter my pin and it generates a random number I enter to continue into my account. They also send me letters updating me on the new features to the app or the website keep meaning constantly up to date so I don’t experience any type of scam. However when I did open up my account I did it in the bank itself as I was still not 100 percent sure I trusted the online banking procedures, but I am mow assured and haven’t been in my bank since.