Entertainment in the Information Age

Technology has changed the way the Entertainment industry is run and used, entertainment in the Information Age is revolved around the great changes in technology.  How we spend our free time is dictated by the entertainment industry, technology is nearly always included in what we do when we want to relax or even be active. A few examples of these are when going for a run people now use data trackers instead of just enjoying the breathe of fresh air or how many of the films we now watch

 are dominated by CGI.

 Music in the Information Age 

One of the biggest ways that entertainment has changed is the change of technology in the music industry; music is one of the biggest forms of entertainment and is used by many nearly every day. Firstly th

e way we listen to music has changed, first came vinyl’s which took up lots of room and were easily scratched and not compact enough to walk around with. Then came the cassette which was portable and meant you could walk around and listen to music privately, however the amount of music you could listen to was limited. Thus came the revolution of the CD, which again changed the music entertainment as people were
able to listen to the CD portably and would be able to have a whole album on one disc, this proved a lot more popular than a vinyl or cassette which is proven by the stat that in 2000 92.3% of music was listened to on a CD and a mere 0.2% was listened to on vinyl. After the CD came the downloadable versions of music which again made music even more portable and meant that people could store a lot more music in one place and listen to them wherever they liked.

Secondly the way that music has been produced has changed, most songs and albums are recorded in the producing studios which change the whole way that music is heard. The music is now generally auto tuned by computers and can make a person who sings terribly sound like a star. The music is not as raw and the general beats and backing tracks are computer produced with artificial sounds and affects. Commonly the ones who use a huge amount of auto tune do appallingly when doing live shows so their careers are short lived, unless they lip sing every show they do. There are very few raw bands or artists, but when people find them they esteem and praise them for their raw honesty and are looked upon as sort of gods in the music industry. Such artists are the likes of Ed Sheeran, who use a simple guitar and voice to engage the audience.

Film in the Information Age 

Another type of entertainment that has changed is film, films used to be made with hundreds of cast members and very limited CGI was used however now films seem to be dominated by CGI and when a film has been produced without even a little bit of CGI it comes to a surprise to those in the information age. An example of this is Christopher Nolan’s film Interstellar which was a great surprise to everyone as he used no CGI throughout the film and graced in the art of sets and extras. The film industry has quickly incorporated a lot of technology and is increasingly using more.

TV in the Information Age 

The screens of which we watch much of our entertainment on have also changed. The introduction of the flat screen was the first big step in the advances of the TV; it meant that we were able to watch the TV on a larger screen that didn’t even take up nearly as much room as the old box like versions. It also meant wherever you were in the room you would have perfect view of the TV without even a glare. Next came HD TV, this gave the TV 1080p instead of 480p and allowed viewers to watch TV perfectly crisply. And finally we have the 3d TV’s which have not progressed as rapidly as the flat screen of the HD. However it has changed the way that we can view our films and programmes, we are now able to have a cinema of our own in our front room. The advances of how we watch entertainment is just going to get bigger and better.

Games in the Information Age 

Playing games as a way of entertainment is now a lot different in the Information Age. Games used to be generally with a board game or some sort of toy that wasn't electronic and required you to use your own imagination. However the revolution of the most used type of entertainment he games console is what dominates the Information Age. Gaming consoles seem to be reaching nearly every generation; there are a countless number of people which use consoles as a source of entertainment. New games are coming out nearly all the time and people can’t seem to get enough of the super imposed games!

Scopes of Entertainment in the Information Age:

• ·        The amount of Entertainment has become so broad that there is so much to choose from
• ·        Increase employability
• ·        Some things are educational
• ·        Game consoles had said to of improved concentration and attention spans of those who have ADHD

Limitations of Entertainment in the Information Age:

• ·        Most of the entertainment aspects have made our generation “couch potato’s”
• ·        Entertainment has also reduced the productivity of people
• ·        They can be extremely addictive
• ·        Entertainment can also be a great distraction.

My own experience with Entertainment in the Information Age

I use a lot of entertainment to fill up the free time that I have, I have a TV and Xbox in my room and use them on a regular basis. I also listen to music pretty much every day and it will sometimes be the last thing I do before I go to bed is to listen to my favourite pieces. However I am often distracted by entertainment and even when I don’t have free time I’ll make time to watch my favourite TV shows or listen to a bit of music.