Download Services

Download Services

Download services are the features that the internet makes available for interactive self-use. There is a large difference between Download Services and Entertainment services online as a download service has to be ‘downloaded’ to a user’s own hard drive.

Music   

Downloaded from online websites such as Amazon or software such as iTunes. People download songs as it therefore means the can buy individual songs rather than whole albums; although this is also available.  It is cheaper to buy music from a downloading service as packaging and posting is unnecessary, this also reduces costs for the producers. Music is set in formats such as MP3, WAV and many more. Originally many used MVP but as time and technology has evolved many iPod’s, Walkman and other music devices support all kinds of data formats and some even play MP4; this takes a much larger memory space and therefore small devices hold a lot of information. 

If the download is on iTunes it automatically saves to the iTunes music player and can be played and kept safe on the software.  Streaming music is also an asset of the music although it is only available to play on the computer and is not stored onto the computer hard drive, but put into a buffer to be played.

Software  

Full programs and updates, free or paid, this could be security systems and other important software. Hardware check-ups, software such as adobe photo shop, and in the illegal stream software such as ‘LimeWire’.

Popular examples of Download Software:

·         iTunes (Free)- music storage and purchase software

·         Microsoft Office– Can be bought online and is great for documentation

·         Adobe (Photoshop)- one of the best pieces of software for picture editing

·         AVG anti-virus– it is important to protect your PC and this software is payable per year giving full protection

Videos   

Videos can be bought and downloaded similarly from websites and online stores like iTunes. These can be downloaded in HD or normal play and are often cheaper than buying the disk brand new. They are updated regularly and feature all new released movies. Recently I bought a film called ‘the girl who played with fire’ and this cost me £9.99, whereas in store it would be £13.99. Video downloading does not just have to be movies and entertainment. Documentaries and other educational videos can be done in the same process. Although this takes up the computer hard drive, most computers are bought with a substantial hard drive to be a sufficient for multiple films.

Books    

Books are a new feature to online download services and devices such as the 'Kindle' can be bought to read these books. They can be bought from sites such as 'iTunes' and is a new revolution to save wasting paper and money. It is cheaper for both the publisher and buyer as less effort has to go into creating the book. In my opinion this is a good idea as it is also eco-friendly.

The Kindle    

The Kindle is a portable e-Book reader that has wireless connectivity features so that a user can browse the web, shop and download e-Books to be read on the Kindle. The Kindle also has features so that newspapers, documents, magazines and a lot more of reading material can be read through the device.

The new Kindle is called the Kindle 3, but what makes it such a good electronic device?

·         It has a larger screen– this means books will be easier to read and benefits those with less efficient eyesight.

·         It can either be bought with just the Wi-Fi function or with 3G as well. – Therefore with 3G internet connectivity will be available always and on the go. The Kindle has been designed to be attractive and therefore this draws in a lot of custom

·         It has a Lithium Polymer Battery which means that the battery life will last a lot longer and is rechargeable too.

·         Internal memory is now 4 GB which is the equivalent to a lot of books!

·         The Kindle 3 is shorter and narrower by 0.5in both ways.

Facts:

·         Kindle applications are available for Windows, iOS, Blackberry, Mac OS X, iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7.

·         The ratio of Kindle books to paperback is 115:100 meaning the Kindle is selling out fractionally better.

Entertainment Services are the features available for use online, these are not stored on a personal hard drive and that is where they differ to download services.

Streaming TV for entertainment services  

Streaming TV is available for most channels 24/7. It offers TV from the past seven days, and older TV programs are often available on YouTube (if they are worth being uploaded). This is free and means that if a TV program is missed or two programs are on at once, TV can be watched online. It is easy to stream and doesn't take any time at all; this can differ on the internet speed though. IPlayer is an example of TV streaming. I have used iPlayer many times before for catching up on TV soaps such as 'Eastenders'. The website offers programmes for all people, including children's shows. There are not many disadvantages of iPlayer as the website is very secure and the only problem could be people may try and record these files to download, keep and share.

Listen again for entertainment services

Listen again is a feature often available from a radio station website to be able to replay a previous show that was broadcasted in the last few days. These are streamed and not downloaded, therefore cannot be kept or copied to an mp3. They aren't as popular as listening to radio stations live, but if popular songs and news was in a certain show, the access is there to be able to listen to it. Although I have never used the feature it helps to make a radio station popular as it gives the listener what they want constantly. I use ‘kiss100’ and I know they also offer this feature for the previous week.

 

Radio stations for entertainment  

Radio stations have websites online that can be streamed at any point of the day; these include digital radio stations that often aren't available on normal radio players. By having access online it is extremely beneficial to the station as their listeners will increase a lot, and the listener gets access to whatever station they like. Disadvantages can be that a lot of pirate stations are made and it can slow down a lot of computers if they don't have the right computer space and technology. I often listen to Kiss 100 as it has a lot of new music and if I cannot afford to buy any songs I don't have to go without music. Within my household the computer is often used for radio play and my laptop too.

Gaming for entertainment services  

Gaming is the largest industry of technology. Online there are millions of sites which have free games on; these games are often arcade style games and can become very addictive. There are educational games available which are popular for lessons and revision at school.

 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Download Services:

Advantages:

·         By being able to download media and information from the internet a whole new world of entertainment is opened to those who may be unable to visit and shop to purchase such software.

·         It reduces the costs of purchasing goods that have packaging and no disk and/or casing is needed.

·         It saves time of going out and buying the media.

·         It can help websites such as the iStore make millions of pounds, promoting artists, authors and film companies. 

Disadvantages:

·         Ever since there has been download services available online, piracy has rocketed and torrents and websites have every type of software available for free. Statistics show that 7.4 million internet users in the UK have downloaded music knowingly from unauthorised services on the internet.

·         Less money is made by the producers of the music.

·         Artwork may not be available on products.