Entertainment and Leisure

The imapact of the convergence of digital technologies on entertainment and leisure has been enormous, and is still ongoing. Virtually every area of entertainment had been touched by didgital technology, both in its production and distribution, and there is stil further scope for change. As with other areas, digital technologies enable more personal creativity and choice, even to the point of overload. It is now simple, and relatively inexpesive, to produce creative work such as music, video, sound, radio, magazines, books and art digitally. These entertainment media are usually stored and transmitted digitally at both professional and amateur levels.

It has become alot easier to make and record music. Midi input devices, sequencers and sophisticated sound cards have made it possible to record and mix music successfully on a home computer. Software has made it possible to create sophisticated backing tracks by selecting a key signature and music style. Almost anyone with patience can put together a convincing recording. Mistakes can be edited out in the same manner as typing mistakes are removed by a word processing package.
The imapact of this can be seen in the growth of the independent music. As with the internet itself, this has the effect of:

• providing fantastic variety and allowing new talent to publish
• allowing a great deal of mediocre to be published
• creating a certain similarity in feel to a great deal of what is published

Consumers have found a boom in choice in entertainment as a result of the digital age. films can be sent to a multitude of locations in digital form and then release dates can be brought foward; and DVD release and broadcast distribution can be brought closer to the original date, thus funding more movies and mroe choice. As with music, small independent production companies are able to produce TV and radio programmes. Simpler means of distribution allow broadcasting from almost anywhere in the world. All this broadens the choice for the consumer; although there are many people who feel it dilutes the quality. It is true that there is so much new music. so many radio stations, so many TV stations and so many films available that an induvidual can feel overwhelmed by choice and not be able to take advantage of these sources- this is known as information overload.

One of the more intereasting means of dealing with the explosion of choice are services such as sky+, which allows consumers to record TV onto a hard disc. The simplicity and flexibility of the system allows people effectively to build up their own personal channel onto which they can record their favourite programmes, ignoring other possiblities. It is also possible to skip the advertisements that fund many programmes at the moment. This may have a longer-term impact on the way in which we pay for TV. Another big impact of ICT on entertainment isthat of communication. Entertainment is not restricted to the lounge or the theatre at set times, but is available anywhere and any time. The IPOD and the many MP3 allow you to transport and listen to what we know as a whole CD collection and the quality of the player is as god as that of a CD. Portbale media players allow you to record TV or DVDs and watch them anywhere. DVD recorders allow you to capture permanently movies and broadcast programmes in high quality and watch them anywhere and anytime a DVD player is available.

Pirated Entertainment

The advantage of paying a supplier such as apple for a legal music download is that it is safer than many download sites that are free. Many free ilegal download sites that get used are the big risk of getting viruses and loosing the computer totally. Also if you are caught using this site's you can get fined for using them so it would be easier to pay for a site that is legal than to get caught and pay a bigger fine than what you are already paying.

The disadvantage of buying a pirate DVD from a market stall is that it is illegal and very unsafe, and are not reliable to watch as you don't know the person that has sold it to you so it may have a different film inside to what the cover says also the quality of a pirate DVD compared to a store DVD is bad as it is grainy as the wrong technology has been used to record the film and sound may not be syncrnised properly and you are most likely not to understand the film so it is cheaper and safer to go and buy the real thing from a shop.

1.2 Education

The impact of ICT in education has been variable, but is destined to grow a great deal over the coming decade as many programmes progress to function or maturity. It has long been recognised that education is now a lifelong activity. Traditionally people went to school and college from the age of 4 to 18 and then perhaps went on to higher education, a person was expected to embark on a career that would last a working life. This is rarely now the case.

There are many people who believe that education should take advantage of new technologies to deliver better lessons, and at a time and place suited to the consumer of the education. The dream is to have their best lectures on video, which can be watched by students all over the country at any time of the day and where ever they are; for software to monitor control totaly induvidualised learning plans for all students; for really high quality resources to be available to all the teachers to aid them in preparing the best possible lessons. This is 'wired-up' education. The UK has gone a long way towards having the infrastructure in place to deliver this. All schools and colleges have some connection to the internet and the world wide web, and msot have high-speed connections. The grid, which is the backbone of the dream, is a reality. Not all students yet have personal, grid based email addresses; but many have access to a virtual learning environment which as potential for delivering some of the benefits of wired up education. There is no common experience as yet in very high quality educational experiences, but there is a clear trend to more and better use of ICT in the curriculum.
One of the more interesting parts of the debate about the future of education concerns the student as a consumer of education. In theory the student will be able to pick and mix 'learning objects' or online blocks of learning to create a curriculum suited to their needs. Although more relevant to adult longlife learners than school-age students, the model can be extended to that of the teacher having control over a variety of learning resources that are mixed and matched to create the perfect individulised learning plan. Typical resources of this are short online videos, short excercises, reading materials, quizzes and tests, access to specialised forums etc.
One of the great benefits of the internet is easy access to unlimited libraries of information. Teachers in primary schools can ask their students where a place is for example they can ask 'Where is timbuktu?' and be confident that the majority will find out using the internet. A student doing a project on the Globe Theatre in London will find access to drawings, history, photographs and much more. A student wanting to learn java script has numerous courses immediately available to them. It is possible to descover almost any subject through the internet.
There are drawbacks to the internet as a source of education information however:

• Some students find it easier copying and pasting large paragraphs of information from the internet, without reading it through and picking out the quotes that are needed for the project. This opens them up to charges of plagiarism, which is one of the greatest academic sins. Universities see this as a big problem as they have invested a great deal of programs to spot such copying.
• As it is so easy to publish on the internet, almost anyone literally can do it. Therefore it is as easy to publish inaccurate, biased or plain incorrect material on the web as it is to publish properly edited and refereed material. The reasons for doing this may be innocent, humorous or wicked, but either way the material is basically misinformation rather than information.
• Another problem that is rapidly growing is that internet providers are finding means of charging for their information that had previously been free. It is now common place to have to join a site and pay a small fee to be able to access information that have been freely accessable in the past. Newspapers and Magazines have started charging for access to many articles encyclopaedias often have extra paid-for content. A number of specialist forums, newsletters, intelligence analysts etc. now charge for information. This is a growing trend on the internet that is not likely to slow down, and therefore it may become harder to gain access to reliable, free information.

The impact of ICT on education has ther potential downsides that should be considered. There are so many potential educational media that is difficult to ensure any form of standerdised quality of experience for students. It is in many ways a pioneering age, with an enthusiasm for novelty and invention that has many positive aspects. At the same time it is not clear whether the claimed advantages of all the new technologies will be sustained. Already a number of highly-funded initiatives, especially in the field of distance learning, have been dropped or totally reorganised. Even where they prove themselves over the longer term, the cost advantages may not be sufficient to justify the changes that are now under way in the long life learning sector.

1.2 communication

communicatons has been a key focus of change in the information age. The way most businesses and young people communicate in the 21st century has changed enormously from the way their parents and grandparents communicated in the middle of the 20th century. Email, chat, sms and digital voice and mobile videophones have rapidly become the way to communicate. We communicate much more, more quickly and more globally. One of the internets kiler applications has been Email. In 2001 it was estimated that 12 thousand million messages were sent daily and by 2003 there were 31 thousand milion sent daily, and by 2005 it has estimated that 75 thousand million messages are sent daily now, the reasons for this is because eamil has massive benefits for induviduals and businesses. One of the major benefits of email is the relatively low cost to the user of sending messages. A consistant theme of the developing internet, however, is that providers are trying to find ways of charging for services that have traditionally been free and email may not always be quite as free as it is at this moment. One of the major drawbacks is spam, or junk mail. Most estimates suggest that between 30 percent and 40 percent of email is junk mail or spam.

1.2 Employment oportunities

The types of jobs people do, where they do them and how they do them have changed dramatically, largely, through not exclusively, as a result of ICT. There are three vital, but related aspects to this: automation,globalisation and flexibility. Particularly hard hit have been the careers of people with specific skills that are capable of being directly or indirectly automated. In the manufacturing sector, some factories have been replaced, either in th UK or overseas, by factories employing CNC, automated machines and robotics.
Shorthand and touch-typing represent the other decntralised end of the spectrum. Most small or large businesses used to employ more than one person in this role. They would take notes, write up letters, memos, reports and invoices, and do any other small volume jobs that require good presentation rather than doing all of this by hand and making it look non-presentable. The advent of office software such as word processing, spreadsheets, databases and presentation software had meant that many administrative and managerial staff can do the work themselves faster than if they involved another person. The demand for shorthand typists has therefore diminished enormously. There is still an active and strong demand for good secretaries, but more at the personal-assistant rather than typist end of the market. At the same time as many jobs have dissappeard as the result ofICT and related economic factors, many jobs have been created, the most obvious area is that of IT itself. There was a vast grow in IT jobs up to the end of the last Millenium, and in internet and e-commerce jobs during the boom of the late 1990's.
One of the most successful instances of the globalisation phenomenon has been the call centre. Modern telecommunications equipment not only allows induviduals to work successfully from home, but also allows centres that can handle calls to be placed in the most economically and socially advantageous position. People phoning their local bank branch, insurance broker or computer helpdesk on a free or local access telephone number these days may be phoning Scotland, Ireland or even India without realising.

Life in the information age

ICT is transforming the way people live in virtually every area of their lives. at home we use ti to help us find jobs and in most modern workplace we are surrounded by ICT ittended to make us more productive. we use it to keep in touch from anywhere, at anytime. We bank and shop using ICT. i am now going to talk about the positive and negative impacts the information revolution has had on your personal, social and working life.

Working styles
The way people work and where they work had changed. There has been a shift in the life/work balance that has been made possible by ICT. ICT should not necessarily be seen as the cause of this shift-which is in large parts to do with economics and politics-but rather as the enabling technology.
The descriptions of many jobs have changed dramatically requiring that most roles involve the use of sum computer skills, acountants who are normally used to working with calculators and pencils now use spreadsheets constantly, also most office staff are expected to know how to use word processer and email on a PC. Shop assitants use computerised till systems for faster and more accurate transactions, the also used computerised payment systems for example most shops have a chip and pin machine which is safer than taking card by hand as it takes longer and can be dangerous. Car mechanics use computerised analysis equipment to identify many of the faults they are presented with. School equipment for teachers is all computerised now as there is mainly smartboards and a range of PC's , there is alos special graphic packages for graphic artists.
Additionally, people use ICT to be more self reliant and more productive at work, which also reduces the need for employees, saving money, as many managers can now word process their own reports and create their own presentaions with the wide range of programs there is to use such as powerpoint. The largest change is probably the way people comunicate using ever more sophisticated digital switch boards and mobile phones which are now much quicker and much more efficient.
Most journalists no longer use shorthand and a snatched phone call to file an urgent report as they use laptops and a modem that connects them to their office as required.
In many ways the use of ICT gives more freedom and self reliance to some staff. In other situations it allows much more control of workers.
ICT allows employers to monitor and control more flexible work models, and communication and networkingtechnology allows people to work in different ways and different places. Many large, and some small organisations, have implemented some form of flexible working scheme which allows workers to have more choice over where and when they work. In simple cases, ICT enables the logging of working hours within flexible time slots. In more sophisticated schemes staff can be employed as teleworkers, i.e. the work extensively from home or from a local telecentre using telecommuniation links back to the main office.
One of the major impacts of ICT has been to shift the work/life balance. ICT has made working life more productive and efficient, and allowed induviduals to take on more responsibility. It has enabled induviduals to do and achieve more. It allows us to communicate mroe effectively in ever more places at ever more times, and thus to have much wider teams to work in with more opportunity for social contact.
However there is a potential downside for this, as fewer people are employed in a particular area and more responsibility is devolved to an induvidual, working hours can be much longer.
Work may involve less teamwork and less opportunity to socialise. It can seem beneficial that work can be done at home or on the train, but less so when it takes over home life and you cannot get away from it even when travelling.

Entertainment

Overall view
The internet now provides a wide range of entertainment for any age, they provide al sorts from games, music, radio, download services and much much more they have made it easier as they provide websites for entertainment and all sorts of games. Also search engines such a google are very good for finding entertainment sites as u just type in a keyword for what you want and it will find many different websites.
Games
There are many sites on the internet where you can find games for all age ranges from children to adults. A good site for children's games is cbeebies or smile these are good as teenagers can go on these sites aswell as there is different levels and there is also chat rooms if you want 2 voice your opinions.
Other good sites for games could be sites such as yahoo.com as you can get older games such as, solitaire and backgammon some game sites also let you connect with the player now so you can chat while you are playing against them. new multi-player games are now graphics based and more of these will come online as higher speed connections and faster computers make it possible to race cars, have fights, and play football against other players using PC's, or even using game stations such as play station or Xbox.

Education

online education
there are many different education services available, from the national grid for learning, to one of simulations or learning object designed to help students understand a single topic.
Forn this topic i will be talking about a popular education site called sam learning. Sam learning is a very good online education site as it helps children form the ages of 5 to 18 so all through school life. It has very good advantages as you can have your own user and normally your school pays for you to use it so it is free for you to use. It has a large range of subjects from compulsory to options and helps you revise for any exams you have coming up as it lets you print out exam style questions and papers and you can also do mini tests on the actual site.

Commerce

Online Stores
for this section I will be doing the activity on looking at an online store and explaining what happens and the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping. This is mainly when business' set up websites to sell their product with special payment processes, for example eBay uses paypal. The webpage is usually filled with pictures and descriptions of the products that are available in store. Most online stores have a processing unit where the shopper transfers the product they wish to purchase to a virtual shopping basket or trolley, which is then transferred to the payment area of the website when the customer has finished shopping this, will manage payment and delivery. The activity I shall be doing for this will be Activity 12. I am going to investigate eBay and how it works and talk about the benefits and limitations of people shopping on eBay. The main purpose of eBay is to buy and sell products using auctioning to try and buy retail products for cheaper than what you can buy them for on the high street. the selling aspect is targeted at people who want to make money but also is advertised at people who want to sell quality products at quality prices, I wouldn't recommend eBay for persons under the age of 12/13 as younger children aren't really interested in buying or selling products at that age as they have parents. The auction process off eBay; As a member of eBay you would set up a product to sell for example a pair of shoes, you will work out a minimum price you want to sell the shoes for and input this into the auction so that if by the time the deadline has been met the minimum price hasn’t the shoes won't be sold, you will set a date for the action to end i.e. auction starts 22/09/06 and ends 29/09/06 so that the buyer knows when to how long they have got to keep bidding and then the buyer who ends with the highest bid will win the product. The seller will also give a brief description of the product to explain what it does and give a condition it is in so the buyer knows whether it is worth buying or not. The benefits of using eBay are that you can buy brand new in store products for cheaper than RRP on eBay and it is easier to get a good description of the product and you can email and ask the seller about the products before being sure that you want to buy the product. The limitations of using eBay are you my get ripped off is someone is good at lying which is why the buyer must always check the feedback that has been given to the seller from previous buyers.

Online banking

online banking services are a logical extension of the automated branch systems that banks brought in from the 1970's to the 1990's, they now use the internet to allow customers to access their account from home rather than having to go out of your home to get to a bank to talk to the bank clerk himself. The only other major technology that was required was internet access with encrypted security. It was very important that only the bank and the customer could access their own account and nobody else's by accident. Further more banks are finding it a lot easier now to access their bank balance now because of the high rate of technology and so they can also make a payment at any time of day and night. The use of technology has also opened services such as offset mortgages, credit card links to accounts so that money can be made immediately. clearly this is so overheads can be reduced where fewer assistants are required and also if high street branches are not required.