Online Entertainment

There are many uses of IT now-a-day which are rapidly rising. These would include things like: YouTube, iPlayer, 4od and Spotify. Some are used more than others but within the next few years their amount of use will rise even further.

YouTube

Youtube is a video sharing website which was created in 2005 so it is reletively new to our entertainment variety. With this site you can create an account so that you can 'like' or 'dislike' other peoples videos and you can also comment on them, however you can view videos without having an account which can be seen as a great advantage as many other sites require you to be a user and have an account. This website uses Adobe Flash Video so in order to view the videos you will need to download this. Before YouTube to be able to view videos you would have to use napster.

advantages of YouTube:

• You can watch television channels, if you've missed them
• You can subscribe to your favourites
• You can use YouTube on your phone

disadvantages of YouTube:

• Some videos can take a while to load because they're high quality
• If you're watching previous tv shows then you'll be shown adverts
• Sometimes a video is not what it appears to be

In my opinion i think youTube is a great way of watching tv programmes which i have missed and i find that it will be at a decent quality and one that will load reletively fast. I have had a lot of experience with YouTube and i have used it to do things such as: listen to music, watch videos, and watch tv programs.

iPlayer

iPlayer is an internet television and radio service created in 2007, so again is a relitevly new way of using online entertainment. It shows you TV shows in which you may of missed so you have another chance to watch the programs you've missed. The channels that this site provides are all of the BBC channels such as: BBC Three etc.

advantages of iPlayer:

• You can catch up on programs you've missed
• It's at your convinience
• You can pause it
• You don't need a TV Licence

Disadvantages of iPlayer:

• If you have slow internet connection it will be slow
• You would need internet
• The programmes uploaded will have to be taken down after a patricular amount of days
• It could be bad quality

In my opinion i also think that iPlayer is a great way of catching up of programs i have missed and i find it very easy to use. However, because it is a high quality video i sometimes find that it takes a while to watch and so i would then be more likely to stop using iPlayer and use YouTube as it would be faster.

Itunes

Itunes is a media player computer program which is used for playing, downloading and organising music. This software is compatible with iPods, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPads as they sync via Itunes. In order to download music you use the Itunes Store where you can download music, videos, apps, books, podcasts and movies. You are able to connect to to the Istore through Itunes, which is done with great ease, however you always need to have internet.

advantages of itunes:

• It is a quick, easy and simple to use
• You can use it anywhere, if you have an internet connection
• Its full of files that you want

disadvantages of itunes:

• You'll need internet connection to download files

• Songs could be costly

Spotify

Spotify is a music straming service which provides the viewer with a range of different genres to chose from. It was lanched in 2008 spotify services are available in most counties including: France, Spain and the United States. You are now able to access spotify on your mobile phone, providing that you are a paying cusomer and pay the monthly bill which enables you to listen to the music 'offline'. When spotify had been around for about a year they introduced a method of joining up to spotify which you could only do if someone else who already had spotify sent you an invitation but that soon got axed. After this there is now a time limit on how long you can listen to music for which is 10hours and once you exceed this time limit you can no longer listen to music.

I have got a Spotify account and i have done since it first came out. I find it to be a good way of listening to music as you can select a specific genre however i find that because you need really good internet access it takes a while to stream so i would again, be more likely to use another way which would be either YouTube or Itunes. The time limit also put me off of using it as it wasn't only listening time that decreed the amount of time i had left to listen to music but even if i wasnt listening to music and simply just had spotify open it was doing so. However since then i have used it again and have found that my time is not being limited.

advantages of spotify:

• There is something for eveyone because of the wide range of genres
• You can make playlists which contain songs that you like
• You can listen anytime, if you have an internet connection

disadvantages of spotify:

• You need internet connection
• Play back time is limited
• The adverts interupt