Entertainment: How electronic components have changed the face of entertainment

It is hard for the current generations of people to think about entertainment without the assistance of electronic components. Virtually even type of home entertainment in use today relies on electronics at some point either in its manufacture or in its operation.  Television, radio, CD and DVD players, even electronic keyboards and video games all rely on parts that are roughly defined as electronic. 

 

The definition of electronics is accepted to be the study of the flow of electrons through various materials and conductors. Electronics are also the equipment or products that use electron flow in order to operate.  Examples of electronics equipment include amplifiers, oscillators or radio receivers.  While electronics were used in the late 19th century in such devices as telephones and telegraphs, it was not until the invention of the radio that electronics took a giant leap forward both in understanding and in applications. 

 

Of course, ever since its invention, the radio has been used for both information and entertainment. Most people rely on a radio for news information when they are away from a television set.  The radio news doesn't have the added benefit of pictures that are provided when another form of media is utilized, such as television or newspapers.  The advantage that radio has over the other forms of news media is its immediacy.  While most radio stations have a large percentage of their air time devoted to musical entertainment, the music can always be interrupted for a news flash. The coverage may be less complete, but it is often sooner to respond. 

 

Music is another popular form of entertainment that makes use of electronics in order to be enjoyed. Almost every type of music played or enjoyed today makes use of some type of electronics device in order to be played or heard.  Many of the common instruments, such as keyboards, guitars, and even violins have both an acoustical and an electric version. This means that the electrical version is not normally played without the electronic pickups.

 

In the same way that the instruments require electronics in order to be played, the pieces require electronics in order for the sound to be captured.  Recording is much more complicated now than it was originally.  Stereo for example allows you to gain the sensation of actually being in a live performance, because the sound is different from each speaker. 

 

When you use other electronic tools to listen to music you gain yet another experience.  For example, listening to a stereo recording of a song in your home will sound different than if you listen to the same piece through headphones while jogging through the park.  You would of course gain yet another experience when you listen to the same artist in a concert situation. Since many concerts, particularly with modern artists include lights and other special effects, electronics plays a large part in the entire concert experience. In fact, the artists performing could not be heard without extensive amplification and could not be seen without the assistance of large screen displays of their performance.