Internet_Home_Intertainment

Case Study On Internet Home Entertainment Anthony Williams Webster University Abstract This case study will detail some of the emerging advances in home entertainment specifically those available over the Internet. I will review some of the older trends of online entertainment including online gaming available via personal computer and gaming consoles. I will also introduce some of the newer trends including media players and Internet-ready DVD and Blu-Ray players as well as Internet-ready televisions. Lastly, I will describe some of the online services and applications available. As I was growing up as an adolescent in the early to mid-1970’s, the term “home entertainment” usually meant two things in my family; over-the-air television or board games. As I entered my teenage years in the late 1970’s, my family was finally able to afford cable televisions and we went from having only 6 channels to having well over 30 plus. In fact, with the inauguration of the domestic cable-satellite distribution system television underwent a dramatic transformation evolving from a system dominated by national networks to the broadband distribution system we have today. (Parsons, 2009)During the same period the first gaming consoles such as Atari were becoming available offering kids and adults other options for home entertainment. While not exactly earth shattering in their performance by today’s standards, they were revolutionary none the less. The advent of the personal computer (PC) to many homes during the decade of the 1990’s ushered in new avenues for recreational funs via computer games. Initially most of these games were simplistic in nature with primitive graphics and challenges. Over time the graphics improved and the skill level required to play such games became more difficult to obtain. The explosion of the World Wide Web, or Internet, in the mid to late-1990’s brought online gaming to the mainstream. Gamers were now able to compete with other users of PC games whether they were around the block or around the world. Most users of these games usually accessed the Internet via a dial-up connection. Gaming through dial-up not only inhibited the gaming experience because of slow response time but could also be cost prohibitive because of connection fees. The mainstream introduction of residential high-speed Internet connections via Broadband or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) made real-time gaming possible and less expensive. It also facilitated online gaming for the makers of gaming consoles such as the Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox. The PlayStation and Xbox revolutionized online gaming. The gaming experience was heightened by better graphics, enhanced storylines and faster game console specific-microprocessors. The integration with High Definition Television (HDTV) and 5.1 and greater surround sound home theater receivers greatly enhanced the visual and audio ambiance. These online-capable gaming consoles not only provided access to online games via games purchased from retail outlets but to games available exclusively online. These consoles are also capable of accessing and playing various audio and video file formats that may reside on home network connected PCs. The consoles also provide access to web browsing as well as email and chat capabilities. Sony and other video component manufacturers also saw the potential in providing other internet capable video components. The first of these new components are media players. The initial medial players were first used to access different audio and media formats that resided on home connected PCs. Later models also provided access to many online audio and video services. Media players never really caught on mostly because a standard PC was capable of providing all services that media players could. The latest trend in Internet capable home entertainment is Internet-ready DVD and Blu-ray players and Television. An article in the Wall Street Journal in 2007 stated that “Consumers simply don't want to add a new box to their home-entertainment centers…and many technology and entertainment executives now believe the surest path for Internet video is through an existing device in the living room”. (Wingfield, 2007) It was only natural evolution to make DVD and Blu-Ray players capable of excessing online entertainment. This allowed consumer to upgrade current components that not only played local media but had access to online video and audio services. Internet-ready television has also allowed for greater access to the Internet. The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that last year U.S. consumers purchased 3.2 million televisions that could be connected to the Internet, about 9 percent of all those sold. This year, the industry's trade group expects that 15 percent of televisions sold will be able to connect to the Internet, and that by 2014 more than half the sets sold will be Internet ready. (Wolverton, 2011). All of these new Internet-ready devices offer multitude of online services and applications. The makers of most Internet-ready DVD and Blu-ray players and televisions all have developed their proprietary online services and applications that offer everything from weather forecasting to online news as well as sports and entertainment news. Arguably the two most popular services are the music source Pandora and the video source Netflix. Pandora is online music source that is available via the Web as well as smart phones. Pandora allows individuals to customize music channels based on genre, artist, composer and other criteria. Netflix has been able to expand their successful mail movie rental service by providing movie via online streaming. Consumer spending on home entertainment dropped about 4% though the first nine months of 2010 compared with the same period last year, according to data from the BTIG Research firm. More people are using consumer electronics items such as Internet-connected televisions and Blu-Ray players to rent entertainment media instead of buying it. (Olivarez-Giles, 2010) Netflix online is also available via gaming consoles such as the PlayStation and the Nitendo Wii. I have discussed the evolution of home entertainment, specifically electronic home entertainment, available over the last 40 years. I discussed the transition from over the air television to cable televisions. I also discussed the evolution of gaming from those available over the first gaming consoles to those provide by PCs and the emergence of online capable consoles. I also discussed the emergence of Internet-ready audio and video capable media players as well as DVD and Blu-ray players and television. Similar to the transformation of television from over-the-air to broadband cable, the future of the sources available for internet home entertainment is endless. References Olivarez-Giles, N. (2010, November 14). Internet-connected electronics fueling more rentals, less buying in home entertainment. Los Angeles Times. Parsons, P. R. (2009, March). Television in the Multichannel Age: A Brief History of Cable Television. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, p. 171. Wingfield, N. (2007, December 11). Home Entertainment; The Internet; The TV: Here's how to finally bring them together. The Wall Street Journal, p. R.1. Wolverton, T. (2011, January 7). Consumer electronics on track to total Internet connectivity . San Jose Mercury News.