Chapter 8 The Future of Home Entertainment

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to explore the current scope and character of home entertainment in its many electronic forms (including television, video games and music) focusing particularly on the changing nature of consumer interaction with it. Through an examination of the various forces that have driven its development, the chapter will look at the more significant aspects of its evolution in the decade since 2000 and make some informed judgements about how it might develop in the next. The term ‘home entertainment’ has covered a vast range of activities during its long history. The first well-documented evidence of people spending significant time and resources on entertaining themselves at home emerge from Sumerian, Roman and Greek texts. As Juvenal notes, it seemed that all Romans were interested in was ‘bread and circuses’, and from relatively early time, wealthier ones saw the opportunity to have both at home,hosting their own dinner parties and banquets. Along with dinner could be music, singing, and dancing by professionals. Such group activities might also be accompanied by more solitary pursuits such as reading, and individuals making their own entertainment through playing musical instruments or reciting poetry.