Education 2

Education 2

In today’s society, can you imagine school without the use of ICT? Imagine teachers teaching without the use of ICT? I guess your answer is no. Education has drastically changed throughout the year due to the change in ICT. ICT had a massive effect on how we learn today these changes the way we live and additionally it opens up opportunity for others to change their lives

Smart Boards

ICT facilities are used in at least 45% of lessons nationwide every day. This does not have to be just online facilities but rather the technology that can be incorporated into a lesson such as a 'smart board'. A smart board is a large screen that has a computer system projected on it and allows data input via plastic pens that contain no ink, a mouse or by the user's hands. Although smart boards only first appeared in the computer rooms in my own school, they are now available throughout the entire school from R.E to Maths lessons. These benefit the teachers as they can access online software and educational games and also demonstrate information for the whole class to see clearly. Teachers can also use ICT facilities to communicate with students through a VLE which allows information such as homework tasks to be sent to the students. If a student is unwell and not in the lesson, the teacher can also have the option to send helpful websites link and even assign tasks so that they do not fall behind on the work.

Within my school we use a VLE system called FROG which came into good use especially on the 'snow days' because teachers set work for all students to do as there would be no lesson to teach; I received four pieces of work over the days and this benefitted my learning thoroughly. VLE can be unreliable on occasions because the system can run down and information may not be visible to some; leaving them to be told off for uncompleted work.

VLE

The system is secured by username and password which can then access an individual VLE with their timetable, personal information and all files uploaded to it. When logging onto frog I personally access my timetable, check I have been marked present to my lessons, and access files especially to do with ICT on the VLE.
VLE's should and will be most definitely introduced into many schools as it is an extreme advance of education compared to chalk and blackboard!

There is also a location called shared drivers on ‘FROG’. It is a piece of software that allows students and/or staff to access the work saved on the school computer from home. When carrying out my ICT studies I prefer to log on to ‘FROG’ and do my work this way rather than using a memory stick or emailing work home.

Laptops

Although some schools have usual computers others may have laptops available for use. This technology can be used in lessons such as 'English' classes and is simply allowing a different aspect of learning to gained; also keeping students engaged. Once at higher level of education a vast majority of students decide to bring their own laptops into school so that all information is kept on one system, although this is at the students own risk and can be bad because if the laptop gets broken all work could be lost. Furthermore to prevent this, memory sticks are used by almost all students and teachers as a backup and transporter of work.

Computing

Computing is an umbrella term describing any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computers. For example, computing includes designing and building hardware and software systems; processing, structuring, and managing various kinds of information; doing scientific research on and with computers; making computer systems behave intelligently; creating and using communications and entertainment media etc. Subfields of computing include computer engineering, software engineering, computer science, information systems, and information technology.

Main Advantages of ICT Facilities in Education:

·         Brings interactive learning to lessons

·         Keeps students easier engaged in the learning

·         Gains students essential skills for an I.C.T society that is forming

·         Teachers can use software and online resources

Main Disadvantages of ICT Facilities in Education:

·         Cannot be relied on because if a server is down the whole lesson plan will be ruined and a teacher will have to create a new one to the detriment of the students education

·         Students can use 'loss of internet connection' as an excuse as to why they haven’t completed a task set on the VLE

I use ICT in everyday of my school life; ICT has a tremendous effect on students. With me being a student, I could easily list what kind of technologies or ICT tools we use in school and how these affect our learning.  The uses of ICT help the work rate go higher

Employment in the Information Age

Employment

Employment- Companies and ICT:
In today’s society most people can use computers and keyboards. Although this may not be completely correct, most people have been taught through schools and not by keyboard lessons. Companies therefore do not have to teach and train their staff to use i.c.t and should be using it as much as possible in business. This can be for immediate reasons such as:

·         Sat Nav-to make sure punctuality is always able to function, traffic and best routes are used to get to work and to business meetings etc.

·         Bluetooth-to call people whilst driving

·         Laptop- net book (light)

-          To manage admin

-          Sales catalogue on laptop, to show client

-          Use email

·         Smart Phones

-          To diary appointments  

-          Be used as a calculator

-          General use for organisation

-          Internet search

Advantages of Employment in the Information Age

Advantages:

Having computing within Employment has many benefits and these are:

·         Tasks and other processes are dealt with quicker as computers can work a lot faster than man can. For example in a shop, tills make transactions and calculations be worked out a lot quicker.

·         Computers are more efficient at working out calculations and making sure tasks are done to a certain standard

·         In the long run Computing in employment works out cheaper as less human employment is needed and expense is not spent on paying a wage to employee’s.

·         Computer websites such as Social Network Sites are extremely good for advertising businesses, products and companies.

·         Larger machines in industry can mean a lot of money is made by companies because products can be cheaply produced.

Disadvantages of Employment in the Information Age

Disadvantages:

Computers in Employment can be detrimental because:

·         There are fewer jobs for people and households are becoming in debt because they have no stable income.

·         The initial set up costs of computing can be expensive and not worthwhile

·         Computers do not have common sense and cannot do decision making in certain situations

·         By having a lot of computers in employment means there is less human contact and this isn’t necessarily a good thing

·         Power cuts and other electrical problems mean a whole system and business can come to a halt.

Overall computers in employment can be both helpful and detrimental to a business/company as there is a relatively equal amount of positives to negatives

What does online employment do?

I.C.T and computing provides more jobs for the recession Britain has and this means the jobless community is slightly slimmer. These jobs can be i.c.t technicians, self-employment from home and receptionist for all kinds of companies. An example of being self-employed from home could be running a transactional website, or even buying and selling products through websites such as 'EBay'. EBay is a growing website that makes money through advertisement and by charging for use such as uploading multiple pictures etc. So as well as being a centre for people to run home businesses, EBay earn themselves a large sum of money too. The internet also creates the opportunity for profit making businesses to be created. These include websites such as Google which is on a positive 16% on its profit today, although this can fluctuate from day to day, depending on the advertising on certain days and the amount of times the website is used.

The online employment industry

The Online employment industry can help people find jobs on websites such as http://www.reed.co.uk/ and is widely encouraged to be used to save time and make jobs and tasks easy to handle. As in environments such as supermarkets computer systems are used to check stock and order more when a certain product is low. This is expensive to set up but in the long run far more beneficial, time saving and worthwhile from a perspective of not having to employ a member of staff to do these themselves. Computer systems that deal with stock and shop produce can also save time by calculating prices, meaning employees with high mental arithmetic are not vitally necessary. In supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s a small hand held computer device can be picked up upon entering the shop. This is so that the shopper can scan the products they want to buy whilst browsing and eliminate the time used for scanning products at a till; I have experienced this before and it is good for time saving but can lead to people stealing easier.
At higher level business, computers and software such as 'Microsoft Word' are used to deal and store documents without having to have a large amount of paper information storage. These types of program all come with extra support and can therefore be used by those with just basic computer knowledge.

Employment in industry

In industry computing can be used to program machines to make products without human assistance and this means it is cheaper to the make the product as less waste and less time is used for this procedure to occur, leaving a good quality product. This is called CNC (computing numerical control) which is the method of controlling machines by the application of digital electronic computers and circuitry. CNC offers flexible and versatile control over machines, with cut depths and measurements being 'dialled in' rather than by control, cams and gears. CNC is used in most industries such as textiles as it can deal with complex geometries. Furthermore, with machines like CNC there is no need for human employment, apart from setting up the machines to function. CIM is also another form of computing in industry and business. It is a process to control the whole entire production and allows individual processes to exchange information with each other, meaning by integration of computers, manufacturing is less likely to be accident prone and be more efficient. It relies on close loop control processes and real-time input sensors and similarly to CNC prevents mistakes and means less human employment is needed and the company save more money.

Google AdSense

What is Google AdSense?

Google AdSense is an application provided by Google so that website owners can enrol it onto their site to allow picture, video and text advertisements. AdSense is used by many website owners and it is in fact the most popular website advertisement application available.

There are many types of AdSense and these are:

·         AdSense for feeds– Which work by inserting images into a feed and run on feeds like RSS and Atom. These have over 100 subscribers and Google then writes the advertising content into the picture. If a user was to click the image they would be redirected to the advertiser’s website.

·         AdSense for search– Allows website owners to have Google search boxes on their websites.

·         AdSense for mobile content– Generates earning from their mobile website using Google advertisements.

·         AdSense for domains– Allows adverts to be placed on domain names that have not yet been published. At the moment AdSense for domains is only available for some users, it is planned to be available for all.

·         AdSense for videos– Publishers with video content can generate revenue using Ad placements from Google. This includes ‘YouTube’.

Digital Revolution

The Digital Revolution, also sometimes called the third industrial revolution, is the change from analog mechanical and electronic technology to digital technology that has taken place since about 1980 and continues to the present day. Implicitly, the term also refers to the sweeping changes brought about by digital computing and communication technology during the latter half of the 20th century. Analogous to the Agricultural Revolution and Industrial Revolution, the Digital Revolution marked the beginning of the Information Age. Central to this revolution is the mass production and widespread use of digital logic circuits, and its derived technologies, including the computer, digital cellular phone, and fax machine.

Rise in digital tech use, 1990–2010

1990

• Cell phone subscribers: 12.4 million (0.25% of world population in 1990)
• Internet users: 2.8 million (0.05% of world population in 1990)

2002

• Cell phone subscribers: 1,174 million (19% of world population in 2002)
• Internet users: 631 million (11% of world population in 2002)

2010

• Cell phone subscribers: 4,000 million (67% of world population in 2010)
• Internet users: 1,800 million (26.6% of world population in 2010)

Online Entertainment

Online Entertainment

Online social entertainment blends entertaining interactive functionality and content including live video streaming, video chat communications, multi-player gaming, music and videos streaming, with social networking service such as social graph management, forums, reviews, ratings, and geo-location options. It is the foundation for a more immersive, interactive, enriching and engaging content consumption experience through social channels.  Social entertainment is distinct from social networking websites in that the former is based fundamentally on immersive engaging experiences with functionality, content and people, while the latter is based primarily on building and maintaining relationships with other users. Typically, social entertainment is defined by the individual sites dedicated to a particular type of entertainment experience incorporating basic social networking services.

Online Television and Radio    

TV and Radio catch up services such as BBC iPlayer, 4od and ITV Player have changed the way people watch TV and listen to radio. In this day and age more people tend to wait for TV shows to get onto the online catch up sites before they watch them as it is much more convenient for them to watch it whenever they want to. This eliminates the need to watch programmes as they are aired on TV. It is an extremely useful service for everyone to use and allows anyone to catch up on TV no matter what programmes they watch. The graph below shows how the amount of requests on these sites has grown over the last 2 years.

The best thing about these services is that they do not require a television; you can simply use and device with an internet connection to access them.  The other great thing is that as long as you are only watching the programmes after they have been broadcast then you do not need a TV license to do so. This is a brilliant advantage to the service and makes it practical for students at university. However you do need a TV license if you are watching TV programmes as they are broadcast live. There are disadvantages with this service such as the possibility of using illegal unofficial sites that may give you a virus. Another disadvantage is that if you own an old computer downloading the software needed to run some of these programmes can slow your computer down drastically. I always use these catch up services to watch programmes that I have missed and find it especially useful if I forget to record a programme as it is always available to watch.

Advantages of Online Television and Radio

·         It is a little more convenient- as you can watch or listen to the TV programme or radio station whenever you want.

·         Don’t have to worry about missing the shows you want to watch as they will constantly be there on the internet.

·         Also the internet may show things online which you may not receive on normal television or radio- this means you would receive more than you would have expected.

·         You can watch TV online at any time of the day or night

Disadvantages of Online Television and Radio

·         The main disadvantage of online television and radio would be that you would need an internet constantly for using these facilities.

·         This is quite expensive to obtain, therefore may put people off of doing it.

·         It also takes up internet bandwidth. Some TV programs are geographically restricted, if you view from official sites. Other sites are illegal and can come and go. Illegal sites can put you at risk of viruses and malware.

·         Some online TV channels might not work on certain computers or may involve an instalment of a programme that may be unwanted

I personally do use online television but not really radio. I tend to stick to the websites which are more reliable like: BBC iPlayer , 4OD and ITV Player, and not any others. I do this because I am very much aware of the effect viruses and malware can have on my computer. Therefore I would not want to put it at risk of this.

Online Music

Online music services are available to everyone that has internet access and there is a huge market including some of the leaders of the market iTunes, Spotify and YouTube. All of these services allow music playback although in different ways. Spotify is a free music streaming service with over 15million songs for the customer to choose from. It is possible to search through a range of different elements as well as create playlists of your favourite songs. The free version of the service is supported by visual and radio advertising; however it is possible to purchase the “Unlimited” service that is ad-free and allows unlimited plays of every song for £4.99 a month or even better the “Premium” service for £9.99 a month – the more expensive service offers everything that the unlimited service offers with the option to use the service on mobile devices such as iPhone and Blackberry. All these different options mean Spotify is suitable for everyone. Advantages of this service are that the free version allows you to listen to any song for free and could help to eliminate piracy. However the disadvantages of this service are that you do not own the song unless you pay to download it. Also it costs to pay for the “Premium” service allowing you to take the music anywhere. This means you still have to download songs in order to have them on your iPod or other device. I enjoy using Spotify as it is easy to use and means I do not have to spend loads of money on downloading songs every week or so, however I would prefer it if it was possible to have it on your mobile phone without having to pay money for it.   

The iTunes Store is a music download service. It was the original music download service although competitors such as Amazon and Tesco have rivalled the prices charged by the Apple run company to gain some of the custom. It allows you to download almost any song with a growing catalogue of over 18,000,000 songs there is not much that you cannot find – this is obviously an advantage of the service. In October 2011 the store experienced its 16billionth downloaded song. An advantage of the service is that it is cheaper to download a song than to go to the shop and buy the CD. It also means you can buy one song off an album in most cases instead of buying every song. A disadvantage of the service is that you have to download the iTunes software in order to buy songs through the iTunes store. Another disadvantage is that in order to use the songs you have brought your computer must be verified however you are only allowed to verify a certain amount of computers so you are limited to the amount of places you can play the music. I use iTunes when I want to download music however the prices are expensive so I try not to use it too much.

YouTube has become a regular part of everyday life for many people and is one of the most used entertainment services worldwide. It is a service that allows you to upload, view and share videos.  Enough material for 115,000 full length films is uploaded each week. This said the quality of these videos it not really at the same standards as feature length films. YouTube can give opportunities to people wishing to share their talents with the world whether it is as a singer, dancer, photographer, or film director. Justin Bieber was discovered through YouTube videos he posted and it was from there that he became the international superstar that he is today. This shows as well as YouTube being a great source of entertainment it can also be a great platform to your talents or views out to the world. The entertainment on YouTube can be found in a huge range of ways from video blogs to comedy videos. It is a diverse, multi lingual source of entertainment and in a completely different league to most entertainment sources. An advantage of this service is that it is completely free to use and you can have unlimited use of the service. Another advantage is that there are loads of videos to choose from and enough material to keep you entertained for ages. This can also be seen as a disadvantage as it is difficult to find something worth watching, so unless you know what exactly you are looking for you can end up spending ages looking for something decent to watch. I have posted videos before however not very often – the service is easy to use and it takes you step by step through the upload process. I use YouTube for watching music videos though you cannot make playlists easily so I use Spotify on more occasions. 

YouTube vs. Spotify

What is YouTube?
YouTube is a non-profit based website that allows video clips to be uploaded and then shared and streamed by millions worldwide; also being a default app on iPhones. YouTube has been the starting point of many singing careers and helped others gain a name for them; good or bad. When signing up to an account you can then subscribe to other peoples 'channels' and therefore can find their videos very easily. YouTube was created by the PayPal employers in 2005 and was then sold to Google Inc. in 2006 for 1.65 billion dollars; since then YouTube has become popular worldwide. But why? Since the laws of the computer misuse act came about in 1990 the copying of music has become harder and the access to music even worse; unless bought on CD. YouTube is therefore the saviour of music as it allows people to stream songs and can even help the music industry as it can be used as a promoter and prompter for a single to be bought.

What is Spotify?
Spotify is also a website for streaming music, but differently to YouTube, Spotify is a program download rather than online website. It is free to download and uses email and password as a login to the software. It isn't a video website but is an mp3 streamer containing thousands of different albums on and a wide range of genres. It was created in 2008 and now can be loaded on to iPhone as an app, great for sharing music online. Spotify has a free version which offers limited streaming but also has two other paid versions of £4.99 a month or £9.99 a month, these offers things such as unlimited streaming and no advertisements. Spotify is great for musical enjoyment at home.

Which is the best?
I have to sway with the majority of people and choose YouTube as the favourite simply because it offers the most entertainment with documentary, music, DVD trailers, and personal uploads and much more.

Advantages of Online Music

·         Provides quick and instant listening.

·         You do not have to pay to listen to song on Spotify or YouTube.

·         A lot more practical for everyday life, as you will not have every single song you love on a CD.

·         These services are there 24/7.

Disadvantages of Online Music

·         You still need an internet connection to use the online music facilities- which in the long run is expensive.

·         Uses up quite a big chunk of internet bandwidth.

·         Opens up your computer to viruses, malware etc.

·         Some software may have to be downloaded in order to use the facilities; this may not be wanted by some computer users.

I do personally use several online music facilities. But the main ones I stick to are YouTube, Spotify and iTunes. This I because they are such well-known companies that it is extremely unlikely that I will become prone to viruses and malware from using them. If I did somehow get virus threats on my computer from using these sites, then my ‘AVG 2012 security’ would tell me immediately and try to rectify the problem.

Online Gaming    

Online Gaming is popular worldwide and games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life have become addictions to millions of people. Some people play games online occasionally for entertainment, others can get addicted and lead their lives by the games. Second Life is a virtual online world that allows you to have a complete life online with the option to socialise as well as other things; it even has its own economy with real currency! For some people this second life can become reality and they can spend all their real money buying the money in Second Life and buying additional downloads to the game. It allows people to interact with others and also gives the opportunities for those who are socially awkward to be someone they are not normally which is an advantage however for the same reason it is so easy to be someone you’re not that it could be a security risk therefore a disadvantage. Many could also argue that games like these are potentially unhealthy as people could become too absorbed by them, this is again a disadvantage.  This is particularly true if people invest a lot of money into games such as these by buying the additional features. However it is possible to make money from games like Second Life – a woman who played the game set up a virtual shop selling clothes for people to buy for their avatars and ended up leaving her job to fully concentrate on the business she had created through the game as it meant she was making four times her original salary. The good thing is games such as these don’t just offer entertainment but can help the economy and offer more jobs. I have never used online games like this although I can see why they would be popular.

Advantages of Online Gaming

·         They improve your decision making skills.

·         Develop problem solving skills

·         Increase you creativity levels

·         Increase your social/ interaction skills

Disadvantages of Online Gaming

·         Online gaming can become an extremely desired and significant component in one’s life. In such scenarios, the individual affected will often neglect his/her professional, educational and personal obligations overall. As a result, the individual undergoes a change in his/her overall attitude towards daily experiences.

·         Online gaming can also instil aggressive characteristics in children and teenagers who frequently associate themselves with violent internet gaming. Youngsters can develop negative attitudes towards their general surroundings. As a result they may undergo difficulty in maintaining positive relationships overall.

I do personally use online gaming as a hobby; as a break from school work. It is a good way for me to relax and enjoy some time by myself. I don’t however spend excessive amounts of time playing online games as I feel my education prioritises over video games.  

Piracy

Piracy is a serious problem when it comes to online entertainment such as music and movies. It is an illegal activity but that does not stop millions of people in the UK alone repeatedly doing it. It seems almost impossible to stamp out piracy however hard anybody tries. When piracy occurs people are not paying for the things they are downloading and it is pretty much stealing, you may as well walk into a shop and steal it. However because it is all online it seems people become immoral and do not realise what they’re doing. It is said to cost the music and film industries millions of pounds every year and means the people creating the entertainment do not get paid for it. This could lead to films and music not being made – after all there seems no point if people are not making a living from it. This is a major disadvantage to all online entertainment services. However services such as iTunes and Spotify are helping to give an alternative to piracy, which is a definite benefit of these particular services. Adverts are often played on Spotify reminding you that piracy is wrong. In cinemas they now also have adverts that explain the consequences of piracy and thank you for paying to come to watch the film. These adverts are a positive thing and should help reduce and eliminate piracy. 

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.