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The Future of Entertainment By Charles Moffat - August 2009. The future is well-nigh here. Imagine being able to watch television any time, any where, any show you want, without the advertising. YouTube is just the beginning. It is a sneak peek at the future where video downloading is instantaneous and (for the most part) ad free. Remember downloading mp3s on Napster (see Napster Revolution)? Well Napster was another peak at the future wherein entertainment is free and often user-driven or user-created. And its not just television or music. Its also movies, video games, books, gossip/news, sports, internet browsing and everything else you could possibly want in the palm of you hand. And all this will be based on a subscription or subscriptions to specifics websites or networks. Lets take the popular MMORPG "World of Warcraft" as an example which has broken many sales records. In 2007 the game had over 8 million worldwide... and that number continues to grow. In Summer 2009 there is now 11.5 million active users and has 62% of the MMORPG market, which means there is approx. 20 million MMORPG gamers world wide. Other games like Dungeons & Dragons Online, Age of Conan, Shaiya offer similar fantasy oriented environments. And that is just one genre of online gaming.
There is also violent video games like Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Halo, strategy games like Chess, Backgammon, classic board games, simulation games like the Sims, Second Life and many other game genres that rely on a subscription or a download price. For movies there is already services like NetFlix (and tonnes of other sites) and there are many other sites available for whatever your interest is... But the real clincher is the issue of mobility. Not only do we have new technology like BlackBerry (see CrackBerry BlackBerry) and XO Laptops (see The $100 Laptop), but laptops and other mobile devices are becoming smaller and cheaper. SmartPhones, iPhones, mini laptops, wireless surfing on your cellphone... the sales of such devices is skyrocketing worldwide. Broadband demand rises every year, sometimes attaining 10% or more growth in specific regions. The biggest recent jump was in 2006 when the worldwide telecommunications market grew 11.2% to $3 trillion USD overall. A 2007 report by the Telecommunications Industry Association estimates 87% of internet users will have broadband access by 2010. Within that wireless revenue is expected to makeup 25% of the market by 2010 (compared to only 10% in 2006). “Consumers are thirsty for broadband, and this report shows carriers are rushing to meet the demand,” said Grant Seiffert, TIA president. And then there is the matter of simple telephone service. Services like VOIP, Skype and similar unlimited phone calling are growing in popularity and industry experts say they will eventually become the norm. But what are giving up here? Standards for starters... because the technology to distribute such entertainment is so readily available now, the ability to create such things is also widely available. Our cellphones have video cameras on them. The problem however is that the quality of such video is horrible and the people creating such things are mostly amateurs. Very few people actually have training. We're reached a point where ANYBODY could make a reality TV show... and post it on YouTube. In theory the quality will go up as the technology gets better, but this will never fix the amateur antics of a lot of the videos posted on YouTube. What is needed is more website and books on how to make good quality video, cinematography, sound/video editing and skills that many YouTubers are sorely lacking. Some of this hack quality skills have even crossed over into main stream television, a fact which further degrades TV's quality as a medium of entertainment. True, amateur videos can be quite funny, but who really wants watch blurry video that is badly cropped, barely edited and the sound is crap? Oh and the people acting are no talent hacks looking like they are doing a high school skit. I have no doubt that the quality of online entertainment will improve given time, but there will also be a sea of amateur videos that clog up the internet with dogs sneezing, teenagers kissing and adults getting drunk / acting stupid. Sure, we will be able to view it wherever we are whenever we want, but we need to maintain professionalism and standards.
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